This is an assignment that I completed through a Global Coursework class for the region of Latin America: SPAN288: Territories of Dwelling, Desire, and Resistance in Latin America. Students were instructed to annotate a quote from a book by José María Arguedas called Los Ríos Profundos. We were expected to integrate Andean Indigenous conceptualizations of land through an intimate sensorial connection we had developed with a natural place that we were familiar with. I chose a small park that was outside of my class building at NCKU, where I studied abroad through CLS. The piece vividly describes my experience walking through the park after class. The quote from Arguedas represents the protagonist’s description of a resilient flower that grows on the sides of buildings, which I connected to my wonder at seeing this vibrant park in the center of urban Tainan. I included this assignment as part of a week we spent in CGST305: Global Engagement Capstone Seminar, which also called for immersive writing that drew upon the reader’s senses to situate them in place. This assignment allowed me to bridge my interest in Spanish and Chinese, as well as learn more about Indigenous ways of life in Latin America. Arguedas’ novel itself is an interesting example of multicultural narrative, as it includes words in Quechua as well as Spanish.
Reference
José María Arquedas. (1987). Los rios profundos. Madrid (España) Alianza Editorial.
