Yanantin and Masintin in the Andean World: Complementary Dualism in Modern Peru

Acknowledgments

xi AC K NOW L E D GM EN TS When we are kids, our parents teach us to say “thank you” when someone does something nice for us. Over time, in many circumstances , this social ritual becomes simply an automatic response. But then there are moments in our lives when we step back and take inventory of where we are, where we have come from, and who has helped us to get there. In doing so, there is (at least I find) a somewhat overwhelming realization of how many people influence the course of our lives and, as a result, how tied into each other’s destinies we all are. What I find particularly eerie is the thought of how different our lives might have been if we were to remove any one element—one person, one circumstance, one moment of chance or fate—that influenced us in even the smallest of ways. Where might we be had we not made that phone call, had we not kept that lunch meeting, had we kept that lunch meeting? It is at times like these, when we take the time to really consider the individuals who have influenced the course of our lives, that the words “thank you” take on their fullest meaning and, yet, at the same time, hardly seem to suffice. It is with that sense of eerie, overwhelming gratitude that I find myself calling to mind all the people whose presence and influence were integral to the researching, writing, and publishing of this book. I am extremely grateful to have attended Saybrook University, an acknowledgments xii institution that expects the highest levels of academic rigor from its students while at the same time encouraging experimentation and innovation within one’s research methods and subject matter. It was there that I found a group of mentors who were willing to follow me on this journey. In particular , I would like to thank Dr. Steven Pritzker for heading my dissertation committee and for his encouragement, support, and creative intelligence. Deepest thanks also go to the rest of my committee, Dr. Stanley Krippner and Dr. Jurgen Kremer, for pushing me past my own blind spots and limitations so that I could delve ever deeper into this material. A very special thank-you goes to my Saybrook advisor, Dr. Stephen Khamsi, for his guidance , support, and exceptional listening and reflecting abilities. Special love and gratitude go to my Saybrook friends and colleagues who made the whole journey not only intellectually stimulating, but more fun than I ever expected it to be: Alisa Huntington, Angel Morgan, and Sarah Kass. And, of course, my Andean research participants. How do you thank an entire culture for envisioning a stunningly intricate and elegant philosophical model, one that I believe holds great beauty and promise for anyone looking for an alternative to the antagonistic vision of existence that the Western world oftentimes creates? My hope, my intent, is that this research project as a whole has been one long act of gratitude to the Andean people who have developed, and continue to uphold, this complementary vision of the world. I would like to thank those who acted as representatives of this cultural model—my research participants. In particular, I would like to acknowledge my two primary participants, Amado and Juan Luis. Although “thank you” can never fully express the gratitude that I feel for all the treasures they have given me through their words, by way of their example, and by pushing me to have my own experience of this complementary worldview, here I will say, muchisimas gracias, hermanitos. Por todo. Special thanks go to the friends and colleagues who helped my fieldwork unfold: Bonnie Glass-Coffin, Kevin Santillo, Holly Wissler, and Flynn Donovan. Big thanks go to the University of New Mexico Press selection committee and to the UNM Press editorial and production staff for their hard work putting this book together. Thanks also go to my agent, Stephany Evans, for her advice and support. Then there are those individuals who, while perhaps not directly involved in the creation of this research project, were nonetheless essential to this process. Thank you to my mother and stepfather and my sister and acknowledgments xiii brother-in-law for always being a source of support, guidance, and enthusiasm . To Ben and Rebecca, my nephew and niece, thank you for being two of the most genuine and kind...