As we spoke, it soon became clear that Túpac Yupanqui’s mission was, if anything, even bolder and slightly more harebrained—dare I say quixotic?—than the one I had come to interview him about. His translation of Don Quixote was simply the best-known example of his decades-long effort to create a standardized literary Quechua and leave millions of Peruvian schoolchildren with an alternative to what he calls the “language of the invader.” That Spanish has been the definitive language of Peruvian law and literature since the mid-sixteenth century didn’t seem to strike him as a particularly onerous obstacle.
“No language spontaneously produces its own literature,” Túpac Yupanqui told me. “If you know how to read and write, it’s because someone taught you.”
Here’s a great write up about Túpac Yupanqui, who brought Don Quixote to the Quechua language, over on Words without Borders:
Comments about this article
United States
Local time: 21:46
Member (2008)
Spanish to English
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Post Scriptus AmBible .org, Cherokee new testament and Genisis available, in alphbet devised by Cherokees before the trail of tears. Shoshoni Bible not started at all.
[Edited at 2018-07-24 02:02 GMT] ▲ Collapse
Spain
Local time: 05:46
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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Interesting, Here in Idaho , Shoshoni and other languages are for all purposes extinct, no literature, no songs, not even a Bible as far as I know...
It would have been terribly interesting to know about the process of translation of any major work from the Western world into Shoshoni or other Native American languages: How can you take the ideas, effects, and even sounds from one world to a language that is used to represente a completely different universe?
Translating the Quixote into Quechua sounds like quite a feat alright, but at least there had been centuries of contact between the two cultures, which probably helped.
Ecuador
Local time: 22:46
In Ecuador and Peru there are still schools and universities that have regular classes in Quechua language. We even use some words in our daily lives: "Te amo con el shungo" (I love you with my heart). "Cuidado con el guagua" (Be careful with the baby) are common phrases all around the highlands in Ecuador.
Excellent article. So proud of my roots!
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