Gálvez Ronceros's Jutito

Monologue from Darkness (1975) by the Peruvian Antonio Gálvez Ronceros is a compilation of seventeen very brief stories that provide the reader a glance at Afro-Peruvian community life in southwestern Peru. The stories chosen for this issue of Callaloo focus on a character that represents the life of the common Afro-Peruvian of that region. Jutito, the main character, is a cheerful and insolent boy who ends up in the top of a tree making fun of his godfather by shouting out to him an obscene nickname, "Mitey Cuca." The story is simple: a man complains to his compadre that his son, Jutito, insulted him, and the insult is so indecent that even he dares not to repeat it. Jutito is called to render accounts, but when he is going to receive his punishment he slips between the compadres and climbs a tree that makes him unreachable. The story is traced by the dialogue between Vallumbrosio, Juto, Juta, Jutilicia, and Jutito—and some precise descriptions by the narrator. Despite the brevity of the action, the image of Jutito—a mischievous boy who always does whatever he wants—remains in the memory of the reader, who can easily imagine all the possible Jutito's making the rounds on the streets of those coastal towns, inventing pranks along the way. That image contrasts with "Monologue for Jutito," in which an older and wise man, perhaps Jutito's father, recognizing all the abilities that Jutito has acquired during his youth, prepares him to understand the obligations awaiting for him as a man, and the routine and misfortune that come with old age. In the first story, we see the author's mastery of dialogue, but in the "Monologue" he also demonstrates his ability to delineate with brief phrases a mosaic of very autochthonous images, allowing the reader to observe the consequences of poverty of among Afro-Peruvians.

The adaptation of the oral registry fills the text gracefully. In all the stories of this small book the author transcribes the speech of the Afro-Peruvians of southern Peru. The dedication of the book is proof of the fervor that the author has for that dialect: "To the men of Guayabo and Sarandango; to those of Pinta, Viña Vieja, Guamampali, Cañapay; to the men of San Regis, El Carmen, San José, Larán and Punta de la Isla; to those of Cányar, La Calera, El Hornillo, Las Huacas, El Juncal, Hoja Redonda, Lurinchincha. . . ." It is the voice of these men and women that turns Monologue from Darkness into a testimony of these communities. Gálvez Ronceros accurately captures the cultural and existential characteristics of the Afro-Peruvians in his brief book, full of memorable images and a delightful style.