Beyond Human

Tara Daly is an assistant professor of Spanish at Marquette University is the co-editor of Decolonial Approaches to Latin American Literatures and Cultures (Palgrave 2016). She has published on visual art and literature from both the central Andes and the Amazon regions of Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.

"In recent years, a critical reevaluation of the avant-garde movements and their legacy has been taking place in Latin American literary and cultural studies. Beyond Human offers an innovative contribution to the understanding of the avant-garde and its legacy in the Andean region. With an approach that combines political philosophy and ecocriticism with current debates about the "'new materialism," Tara Daly proposes a pluralistic view of avant-garde Andean arts, and argues that their uniqueness within the broad panorama of twentieth-century Vanguardisms centers on their reorientations of the multiple relationships among humans and the natural world, partly inspired by the indigenous cultures of the Americas. Cutting through the mainly sociopolitical readings that have traditionally been applied to the Andean avant-garde, Daly argues compellingly that these artistic movements are best understood in terms of a 'vitalistic materialism' that sought to establish a uniquely Andean middle way between capitalist commodification and Marxist utopianism."— Aníbal González, Yale University"Recommended."— Choice"From the pedagogical perspective, Beyond Human is teachable in its entirety in a course on Latin-American Vanguards or on the cultural production in the Andean region. The chapters can also be used as stand-alone material on the five intellectuals discussed in the book."— Bulletin of Spanish Studies"Beyond Human offers an important reading that adds to ongoing discussions of new materialism....[A] very interesting book that proposes a fresh reading of materiality in the Andes."— Hispanic Review"Recommended."— Choice"From the pedagogical perspective, Beyond Human is teachable in its entirety in a course on Latin-American Vanguards or on the cultural production in the Andean region. The chapters can also be used as stand-alone material on the five intellectuals discussed in the book."— Bulletin of Spanish Studies"Beyond Human offers an important reading that adds to ongoing discussions of new materialism....[A] very interesting book that proposes a fresh reading of materiality in the Andes."— Hispanic Review"In recent years, a critical reevaluation of the avant-garde movements and their legacy has been taking place in Latin American literary and cultural studies. Beyond Human offers an innovative contribution to the understanding of the avant-garde and its legacy in the Andean region. With an approach that combines political philosophy and ecocriticism with current debates about the "'new materialism," Tara Daly proposes a pluralistic view of avant-garde Andean arts, and argues that their uniqueness within the broad panorama of twentieth-century Vanguardisms centers on their reorientations of the multiple relationships among humans and the natural world, partly inspired by the indigenous cultures of the Americas. Cutting through the mainly sociopolitical readings that have traditionally been applied to the Andean avant-garde, Daly argues compellingly that these artistic movements are best understood in terms of a 'vitalistic materialism' that sought to establish a uniquely Andean middle way between capitalist commodification and Marxist utopianism."— Aníbal González, Yale University

• Illustrations ... viA Note on Translations... viiIntroduction: Revitalizing the Andean Avant-Gardes ... 11 César Vallejo's Lithic Poetry: Stones as Material Guides ... 532 Alejandra Dorado's Installation Art: Material Transmutations in Contemporary Cochabamba ... 1113 José María Arguedas's 1960s: The Air as Space of Material Encounters ... 1574 Mujeres Creando Comunidad: Communitarian Feminisms from the Bolivian Soil ... 1995 Magda Portal's Bare Life in the Sea ... 245Conclusion: New Material Orientations in the Andes and Beyond ... 300Acknowledgments ... 311Bibliography ... 314Index ... 342About the Author ... 343