Navidad en los Andes: arpa, comparsas y zapateo en San Francisco de Querco, Huancavelica (review)

It is such a pleasure to review a book that I can recommend without reservations. Based on extensive research and written in a style that is accessible and informative, Navidad en los Andes: arpa, comparsas y zapateo en San Francisco de Querco, Huancavelica by Claude Ferrier is an important addition to the ethnographic series published by the Instituto de Etnomusicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and to research on the Andes more generally. In this book, Claude Ferrier delivers incisive observations and analysis of Peruvian festival practices at the intersection of the Christian tradition of Christmas and the pre-Hispanic Qhapaq Raymi, observed throughout the central Peruvian Andes. Navidad en los Andes centers on a representation of the Christmas tradition in Querco, in south-central Peru, and offers a critical portrayal of historical continuity and change of the fiesta. The narrative oscillates masterfully between past and present via historical information and contemporary ethnographic observation, allowing Ferrier to expose syncretic processes centered on the convergence and simultaneity of shared symbolism in the festival. Among the book’s many strengths is Ferrier’s sensitivity to performance aesthetics and his attention to a conceptual framework that brings together musical analysis and Andean symbolism to reveal persistent elements of Andean cosmology reflected in musical technique, melodic lines, and rhythm of the festival repertoire. Ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, historians, and a variety of humanities and social sciences scholars will surely find Navidad en los Andes a useful book for continuing research and classroom implementation. I look forward to an English translation that will extend readership of this important study and allow for a broader integration of Ferrier’s analysis in scholarly debates.

The book is divided into eight chapters. The first few chapters situate Querco within the physical geography, history, and community politics of the Andean highlands and offer a description of the Christmas tradition and a detailed perspective on the musical technique and choreography of the event. Latter chapters contextualize the fiesta within the social dynamics of Querco and consider recent changes the tradition has undergone because of mass migration to the coastal town of Ica and other factors that have influenced performance aesthetics.

Helpful photos, maps, figures, and musical transcriptions accompany the text. I appreciated the full transcription of song lyrics and recitations throughout the book, and musical transcriptions in the appendix, which I think scholars will find useful for comparison to other Andean musical traditions. Perhaps one of the most important complements to the book is the accompanying DVD with footage of field recordings that capture the music and dances within the context of community decision making, participation, and social interaction. Beyond illustrating examples referenced in the book, the DVD provides glimpses into other important aspects of the culture not necessarily articulated in the narrative—for instance, the ways by which children are socialized into participation in the tradition and the aesthetics of the dance from a very early age; the subtleties of interaction among the genders and generations; extended interviews with locals regarding their experiences and memories of Querco and of the celebration as it was observed in the past; and rich details of the way people enter and exit, participate, and perform within the festival space. Clips on the DVD, moreover, are a perfect length for use in classroom contexts. Ferrier’s bibliography is also worthy of attention since it brings North American, Latin American, and European scholarship into productive dialogue.

Ferrier tells us that Querco receives little tourism and that the Christmas tradition has typically been a production for locals by locals, although in recent years things are changing. Readers are situated immediately within a complex political hybrid system and organization where Quechua and Western systems coexist. Those working in other parts of the Andes...