 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The dialogue is built on the premise of total memorization. You should use the pages to help you remember what you have learned in class, as cue sheets for home study. You should learn the dialogue well enough to recite it in dramatic form in class, i.e., acting the parts required. This unit should take approximately 15 class hours and 30 outside preparation hours (including hours listening to the tapes) having approximately the following distribution: Dialogue presentation: 4 hours; Dialogue recitation: 1 hour; Exercise sets: 7 hours; Set I: 2 hours; Set II: 2 hours; Sets III, IV, V, VI: 1 hour each; Review and conversation: 3 hours. Because of the nature of Aymara, it is impossible to present normal language material without using structures that cannot be presented and taught at once. For that reason, you should not try to use any structure not taught in the exercise sets except in the specific context in which it is used in the dialogue. CULTURAL NOTES The political notes here refer to the time at which the dialogue was written. The political organization of Andean communities on the surface reflects the national trends. The kurijirura (from Spanish corregidor) is an official appointed to carry out administrative functions within a particular region known as a kantuna (from Spanish canton). His appointment is for one year. He is officially the representative of the central government in the town. Previous to the appointment of a new kurijirura, there is a town meeting of the people of the community to be governed in which a list of candidates is decided upon. In some places the list may consist of one name only. Ordinarily the wishes of the community are respected, and the person elected is appointed. This has not always been so, and is not necessarily the case in all instances today. Previously, for example, the kurijirura was always a mestizo from the town; today many are Aymara. The kurijirura is a subordinate to the subprefecto who is appointed at the province level in the province capital, who in turn is subordinate to the prefecto at the departmental capital level, who in turn is dependent upon the central government. The appointed government from La Paz may be paralleled by elected local governments and/or local governments following other traditional patterns. Local political structure has undergone many and sometimes radical changes since the revolution of 1952. However, among the Aymara the preferred form of government is consensus, and thus the arts of discourse, persuasion, and speech–making are highly developed. Politeness and consideration are highly valued among the Aymara, as is reflected in this dialogue. You will notice that names are not directly given. In a later encounter, personal names may be exchanged. The sentence suffixes and verb forms also reflect politeness (see the grammatical comments accompanying the exercises). Because of the network of kin, both real and fictive, the Aymara rarely stay in hotels or lodgings, but rather stay with someone to whom they have ties, if not kinship then at least commercial. The ideal, if travel to a particular place is frequent, is to have one’s own place to arrive and stay, the puriñ uta. However, especially since the revolution, there are hotels in all of the larger towns and many of the smaller ones, often run by Aymara who benefited from the revolution. The literal meaning of the last sentence of the dialogue, q"ipürkama, is ‘until some day behind’ and reflects the Aymara view that the future is in back of one, not visible—the past and present are in front and visible. |