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ComparativeAmericanEthnoliterature:
The"Challenge"Motif
Enrique Ballon-Aguirre
Languages and Literatures, Arizona State
and Jose Ballon-Aguirre
Spanish and Latin American Literature, Ohio Wesleyan
Poetics Today 16:1 (Spring 1995). Copyright ? 1995 by The Porter Institute for
Poetics and Semiotics. CCC 0333-5372/95/$2.50.
30 Poetics Today 16:1
2. See Communications 39 (Paris: Seuil, 1984); see also Le Conte, pourquoi? comment?
Actes desJournees d'etudes en Litterature orale (Paris, 23-26 mars 1982) (Paris: Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1984), and Leon and Perron (1987).
32 Poetics Today 16:1
The Corpus
The original narrative body or mass to be examined here comes from
chapter 5 of Ritos y tradicionesde Huarochiri,which is considered the ur-
text of Andean ethnoliterature (Taylor 1987: 103-15, lexies 64-114).
We have constituted the corpus following the guidelines that have al-
ready been established for the semiotic (Ball6n-Aguirre 1987) and
the semantic (Ball6n-Aguirre, Cerr6n-Palomino, and Chambi-Apaza
1992) regulation of this type of discourse. Next, we will briefly outline
the "occurrence text," or narrative context, from which this micro-
recit is taken.
The macro-recit in chapter 5 develops the following plot. Huatia-
curi, a poor, humble man (described as such because he subsists en-
tirely on "papas huatiadas," potatoes buried underground and baked
with hot rocks), who is also the son of the god Pariacaca, overhears in
a dream a conversation between two foxes and learns that a powerful
man, Tamtanamca, is very ill. In his dream, Huatiacuri also discovers
the cause of this man's illness: his wife's love affair. Huatiacuri goes
to see Tamtanamca, but is not well received. In spite of this, Huatia-
curi offers to cure Tamtanamca on the condition that he be allowed to
marry the man's younger daughter (since his elder daughter is already
married to a wealthy man). When Tamtanamca agrees, Huatiacuri
cures him, revealing his wife's love affair; immediately thereafter, Hua-
tiacuri destroys a serpent and a frog who were undermining this man's
house. Tamtanamca then fulfills his promise and gives his daughter
to Huatiacuri in marriage. However, when the affluent husband of
Tamtanamca's elder daughter hears about the marriage, he becomes
enraged, refusing to accept Huatiacuri as his new brother-in-law:
1. Asi, un dia, ese hombre le dijo a Huatiacuri:"Hermano,vamos a
competir en distintas pruebas.CC6mote atrevistet6, un miserable,
a casarte con la cunada de un hombre tan poderoso como yo?" El
pobre acept6 el desafio y fue a contarle a su padre lo que el otro
le habia dicho. "Muybien,"le dijo su padre, "cualquiercosa que te
proponga, ven en seguida a verme."
2. He aqui la primeraprueba.Un dia su cunadole dijo:"Vamosa medir
nuestras fuerzas bebiendo y bailando."Huatiacuri,el pobre, fue a
contarseloa su padre.
3. Este le dijo: "Vetea la otra montana,donde convirtiendoteen hua-
naco, te echarascomo si estuvierasmuerto;entonces, por la manana
3. The numberof Americanethnoliterarystudiespublishedhasgreatlyincreased
in recentyears(see Ball6n-Aguirre1986, 1989b).
Ball6n-Aguirre * Comparative Ethnoliterature 33
4. Diego Gonzalez Holguin (1989 [1608]: 298) defines porongoas "vaso de barro
cuelli largo," which Gerald Taylor (1980: 51 n.44) translates into French as "vase
Ball6n-Aguirre * Comparative Ethnoliterature 35
4. Then the poor man proceeded to carry out his father's instruc-
tions. The contest began and the rich man was the first to take the
floor. Nearly two hundred women danced with him; when the dance
ended, Huatiacuri, the poor man, showed up alone with his wife,
just the two of them. They crossed the threshold and danced to the
rhythm of the vixen's tambor;then, all over the region, the earth
trembled. In this way, Huatiacuri triumphed totally.
5. After this, they started to drink. It is customary for guests to take the
highest seat in the assembly, so Huatiacuri and his wife went to sit
by themselves in the place of honor. Then all the men who had been
sitting there rushed to bring him chichawithout giving him a chance
to catch his breath. Huatiacuri drank all the chicha that was served
him without flinching. When it was his turn to serve, he provided
the chicha from his poronguito. When the men saw that the jar was
too small to supply such a large group, they burst out laughing. But
as soon as he had finished serving the chicha [to everyone] from one
end of the assembly to the other, all of them passed out.
6. Since Huatiacuri won the contest, the other man wanted to challenge
him again the next day. This time, the contest would consist of dress-
ing up in the finest casay cancho[feathered robe].5 Again, Huatiacuri
went to confer with his father. He gave Huatiacuri a robe of snow.6
In this way, he defeated his rival, dazzling all the spectators.
7. The other man [then] challenged him to a puma hunt. The rich man
wanted to win by wearing the [puma] furs that he had already ac-
quired.7 Following his father's instructions, the poor man went at
dawn to a spring and brought back a red puma. (When he started
to dance with the red puma, a rainbow like the ones we see today
appeared in the sky.)
en terre ayant un col allonge"; Franciscode Avila (1966 [1608]: 211) calls it a "can-
tarillo";Juan de Arona (1974 [1884]: 279) defines it as a "vasoo cantaro de barro";
and Jose Maria Arguedas (1966 [1598]: 41) defines it as "jarra pequena." The
Quechua term tinya is translated by Taylor (1987: 104-5) and by Jorge Urioste
(1983: 31) as "tambor";Avila (1966 [1608]: 211) calls it a "tamborcillo,"as does
Arguedas (1966 [1598]: 41); Gonzalez Holguin (1989 [1608]: 343), curiously, de-
fines it as "atabal, aduse, bihuela, guitarra." The Quechua term antara is trans-
lated by Avila (1966 [1608]: 211) as "flauta hecha de muchas [canas]";Gonzalez
Holguin (1989 [1608]: 28) indicates that an "antara"comprises "flautillasjuntas
como 6rgano"; Arguedas (1966 [1598]: 41) translates it as "flauta de pan," as do
Taylor (1980: 51 n.45) and Cesar Bolanos (1985: 28-29, 44); Urioste (1983: 31),
however, "translates"it as a Quechua parasynonym,pinquillo.
5. Avila (1966 [1608]: 212 n.1) translates it as "plumas galanisimas y de diversos
colores," as does Taylor (1987: 109 n.87), while Urioste (1983: 126 n.2) defines
canchoas a "tejido con plumas incorporadas."
6. Avila (1966 [1608]: 212) translates it as "camisetade nieve."
7. In Taylor's (1980: 53 n.46) translation, we find this explanation: "Siendo la po-
sesi6n de las pieles de pumas el simbolo de la prosperidad de los propietarios de
llamas, el cunado de Huatiacuricrey6 que su victoriaestaba asegurada"(Since the
possession of puma fur is a sign of prosperity among llama owners, Huatiacuri's
brother-in-law believed that his victory was assured).
36 Poetics Today 16:1
8. Hip6lito Galante (in Urioste 1983: 127 n.21) translates "cusma"as "camis6n,"
while Arguedas (1966 [1598]: 43) gives "t6nica,"and Taylor (1980: 53 n.48) says
that it is "una especie de tunica o camisa larga andina." Gonzalez Holguin (1989
[1608]: 182) defines "huara"as "paneteso caraguelles estrechos,"while Galante (in
Urioste 1983: 127 n.21) translates it as "calzones"; Arguedas (1966 [1598]: 43), as
"panete que cubria la cintura y piernas";and Taylor (1980: 53 n.49), as "pantal6n
indio."
9. For Gonzalez Holguin (1989 [1608]: 129), the "cachua"(kachua)is a "bayle asi-
dos de las manos," and kachhuani means "baylaren corro asidos." Taylor (1987:
115 nn.112, 113), besides quoting Gonzalez Holguin, indicates that according to
the An6nimo of 1585 this "baile"was "pernicioso"and adds: "In this text we are
Ball6n-Aguirre * Comparative Ethnoliterature 37
The Structure
In this micro-recit composed of thirteen sequences, the challenge con-
stitutes the action and the effect of defying on the part of the brother-in-law
in five instances and on the part of Huatiacuri in one. A challenge
may also be defined as a provocative declaration which implies that
someone is incapable of something. It also entails the provocation of
one-on-one combat and a contest in which qualities like strength, dex-
terity, and skill are put to the test.
The concept of challenge, then, includes all of these meanings, not
just the "provocative declaration" which has been the basis for consid-
ering it a motif of narrative manipulation. Thus, the micro-recit of chal-
lenge constitutes a complete Narrative Program, with the components
of manipulation, competence, performance, and sanction appearing
in the textual sequences (Secs.), as displayed in Figure 1.
The components of the narrative which describe the confrontation
between the protagonist, Huatiacuri, and the antagonist, his brother-in-
law, do not follow the canonical order of the Narrative Program. They
are distributed among multiple sequences linked to the six (con)tests
(or performances) that occur at various points in the narrative. Ap-
parently, we are dealing with a true dissemination of the components
of the recit, typical of this ethnoliterary motif (since, ideally, the hero-
protagonist ought to show her/his sovereignty by going through not
one but several tests). Such is the case of the hero-brothers (syncretic
protagonists) in the Popol Vuh, who participate in the different trials
proposed by the Lords of Xibalba (syncretic antagonists). Curiously,
in this case the lords do not participate in the tests; they only impose
them on the hero-brothers. This fact indicates that in order for the
test to be performed within the motif, the protagonist must partici-
pate, but not the antagonist, who can function instead as observing
subject and as judging subject (or sanctioner). In this case, the test is
no longer a contest because it has become an examination, during which
the competence of the subject, his sovereignty, should be manifest and
effective, as in the following excerpt from the Popol-Vuh (1984: 157):
[Los hermanos-heroes] entraron despues a la Casa del Frio. No es posible
describir el frio que hacia. La casa estaba llena de granizo, era la mansi6n
apparently dealing with a ritual cachua, which should enable deer to find human
flesh. The fawn, by inverting the terms in the magic formula,
brings bad luck upon
deer."
38 Poetics Today 16:1
I I
Competence Performance
I l
Secs. 1-2-6-7 Ses. 3-6-7-10 Secs. 4-5-6 Secs. 4-5-6-7-8
-8-9-10 -8-9-11 -9-11-12-13
del frio. Pronto, sin embargo, se quit6 el frio porque con troncos viejos lo
hicieron desaparecer los muchachos.
Asi es que no murieron; estaban vivos cuando amaneci6. Ciertamente
lo que querian los de Xibalba era que murieran: pero no fue asi, sino que
cuando amaneci6 estaban llenos de salud, y salieron de nuevo cuando los
fueron a buscar los mensajeros.
"'C6mo es eso? ~No han muerto todavia?" dijo el Senor de Xibalba.
Admirabanse de ver las obras de Huanahpu e Ixbalanqu6 [los hermanos-
heroes].
([The hero-brothers] entered the House of Cold. It is impossible to describe
how cold it was. The house was full of hail, it was the mansion of cold.
Soon, however, the cold went away. The boys made it disappear by burning
old logs.
So it was that they didn't die; they were alive when the sun came out.
Certainly, what the Xibalba men wanted was for the boys to die: but that
wasn't the case; at dawn they were glowing with health; and they left again
when the messengers came looking for them.
"How is this possible? Aren't they dead yet?" said the Lord of Xibalba.
Everyone was amazed at the deeds of the Huanahpu and Ixbalanqu6 [the
hero-brothers].) (Translated by Jos6 Ball6n-Aguirre)
Let us reconsider, now, the base text taken from chapter 5 of Ritos
y tradiciones de Huarochiri. The narrative program that allows the pro-
tagonist, Huatiacuri, to pass from an initial modal incompetence
(/wanting-being able-doing/) to a state of full competence (/know-
ing-being able-doing/) is achieved in all tests (either effectively or
potentially) by the intervention of his father, Pariacaca, who thus de-
fines himself as the hero's helper. However, this intervention is not
required for the configuration of the challenge motif; in a given recit,
the hero/subject/protagonist can ignore a previous narrative program
because the modal series /knowing-being able-doing/ is revealed in
Ball6n-Aguirre * Comparative Ethnoliterature 39
Narrative Process
value object over which the antagonists in the recit dispute from the
"objects" and "animals" that help Huatiacuri succeed in the tests. The
latter are the antagonist's helpers and the protagonist's (co-)helpers
(since Huatiacuri's main helper is embodied by the god Pariacaca).
The help that these secondary value objects give the protagonist is
conveyed within the recit's pragmatic verisimilitude. Therefore, its
thematic narrative form and its figurative distribution are organized
by an exclusive designative referentiality. (For instance, the llamas and
the huanacos that help the "cunado" build his house still perform the
same tasks today, as beasts of burden, in the Andes.) However, those
objects that operate in conjunctive relation to the protagonist perform
the thematic roles of "magic objects" and "zoemas." (Both of these
roles will be examined later.) The roles and figures described so far
are diagrammed in Figure 3.
THEMATIC
NARRATIVE
FORM FIGURATIVE
DISTRIBUTION
ACTANTS Actantialroles Thematicroles Figurative
roles Figures
S1 /sender/ /defier/ "emission" "toutter":
/defeated/ /to propose/
S2 /receiver/ /defied/ "reception" "tolisten":
/defeater/ /to accept/
S3 /helper/ /auxiliary/ "revelation" "tolisten,"
"toutter":
/to reveal/
O /object/ /to defeat/ "encounter" "tocompete":
/to fight/
ments proposed by the text and distinguish the two figurative actors
whose actantial function is to help the adversaries: (1) the protagonist's
(modal) (co-)helpers,namely, the poronguito, [the antara], the drum, the
robe of snow, the birds, the snakes, and the wildcat; and (2) the antago-
nist's (simple)helpers,namely, the two hundred women, the robe of casa
y cancho feathers, the puma furs, the people, the huanacos, and the
vicunas. The taxeme is organized as follows:
1. the sememe "poronguito," with its classeme /container/;
2. the sememes "antara" and "drum," with their classeme /musical
instrument/;
3. the sememes "robe of casa y cancho feathers" and "robe of snow,"
with their classeme /clothing/;
4. the sememes "two hundred women" and "people," with their
classeme /human/;
5. the sememes "birds," "snakes," "wildcat," "huanacos," and "vicu-
nas," united by the classeme /animal/;
6. the sememes "puma furs" and "fur of a red puma," with their
classemes /animal/ and /clothing/.
If we examine the fortuitous signification of each sememe, we can
see that the objects (O) donated by father Pariacaca, the "sender"
(Send), operate in conjunctive relation to Huatiacuri, the "receiver"
(Rec). These objects belong to the fortuitous categorial seme /super-
natural/, and their operations can be summarized in the following
formula:
(Send n 0 U Rec) = (Send n 0 n Rec).
Ball6n-Aguirre * Comparative Ethnoliterature 43
were also bears). They took her to the bottom of the ocean, where her
body was devoured by marine animals. Reduced to only a skeleton, she
walked along the ocean floor until she found a place where the water
was illuminated by the rays of the sun. There, she rose out of the ocean
and rested on a floe. Exhausted, she fell asleep and dreamed about
all the things she needed. When she woke up, she found these objects
around her and saw some young men, who had discovered her. How-
ever, since she was still a skeleton, they were frightened and ran away.
(The following Spanish translation is by Enrique Ballon-Aguirre, with
an English translation by Jos6 Ball6n-Aguirre.)
strument, he gave it to her. The woman put out the light, took the drum,
and started to dance. She was singing a magic spell when suddenly the
drum began to expand and its sound grew louder, filling the plain and the
hill.
When she finished singing, the woman lit the lamp and lowered the danc-
ing flames. The old man, seeing her, was unable to look away. She was no
longer a pitiful skeleton, but a magnificent young woman whose generous
flesh could be seen under her superb dress. Again, she put out the light,
took the drum, and started to dance. After a while she asked the man: "Is
everything all right?"
After he responded affirmatively, she lit the lamp. It was not an old man
who had answered "yes," but a young warrior, whose strength and youth
had been restored by the magic rhythm of the drum.)
Now, let us compare the functions of the combinatory variants of
the magic drum in the Quechua and Inuit recits (Figure 4). Although
the lexeme drum shares the same lexical sememe in the Quechua
and Inuit pragmatic dimensions, its two different semes (tectonic and
human) enable us to infer the afferent social sphere of each one: in
the Quechua recit, the afferent seme /tectonic/ generates in the mythic
dimension the lexical sememe /seism/; in the Inuit recit, the afferent
seme /human/ yields the lexical sememes "life" and "rejuvenation."
Each afferent sememe constitutes the "topic," or "sociolect sector of
the thematic" (Rastier 1989a: 159), which indicates, on the semantic
plane, the two interpretants or idiomatic aspects of the magic drum.
The mythic dimension, defining the afferent spheres of each r6cit, de-
termines their cultural identity and, consequently, those of the recits in
which they are included.
But what are the modes of existence of magic objects in ethnoliter-
ary recits? It is important to remember that such objects cannot be
Ball6n-Aguirre * Comparative Ethnoliterature 47
10. The term tecnema, as employed here, should not be confused with "techni-
cal object," as formulated by Christian Bromberger (1979); cf.
Jean-Pierre Digard
(1979) and Jean Baudrillard (1982). See also Communications 13 (Paris: Seuil, 1969).
48 Poetics Today 16:1
the birds and snakes which built the hero's house). On the other hand,
the perception of tecnema objects initially establishes a mandatory
fiduciary relation with the /being 2/ modality, that is, the apprehension
of the object as such-a horseshoe, a rabbit's foot, strings of teeth or
garlic cloves, a strand of hair in a locket, pictures in a wallet, and so
on-by the group which uses that object (by such a process is a tec-
nema's phenomenal tangible existence determined). A relation is also
established with the /being 1/ and /seeming/ modalities, which guaran-
tee and ensure the "acknowledgment" of the tecnema on the mythic
plane (luck, fortune, protection, affection, etc.).
To summarize, the mythic /knowing/, or the identification and sig-
nification achieved through the interpretation of magic objects and
zoemas in the recits, operates as follows:
FC (/being 1/ + /seeming/) = /knowing/,
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