Clorinda Matto De Turner – författare

Clorinda Matto de Turner was one of the major literary figures of nineteenth-century Peru. Her first novel, Aves Sin Nido (Torn from the Nest) was a landmark work in the indigenismo genre which depicts the lives of contemporary Indians in the rural setting. The novel's initial success was due to its explicit and critical treatment of the problems of the indigenous population of Peru and because of its attack on the immorality of the priesthood. The plot involves a young couple who arrive in the Peruvian province where the Indians are exploited by landowners and public officials and the women are especially abused by local priests. The idealistic couple attempt to improve the lives of the Indians, but encounter difficulties at every turn. This novel has not been translated since 1904.

"I love the native race with a tender love, and so I have observed its customs closely, enchanted by their simplicity, and, as well, the abjection into which this race is plunged by small-town despots, who, while their names may change, never fail to live up to the epithet of tyrants. They are no other than, in general, the priests, governors, caciques, and mayors." So wrote Clorinda Matto de Turner in Aves sin nido, the first major Spanish American novel to protest the plight of native peoples.First published in 1889, Birds without a Nest drew fiery protests for its unsparing expose of small town officials, judicial authorities, and priests who oppressed the native peoples of Peru. Matto de Turner was excommunicated by the Catholic Church and burned in effigy. Yet her novel was strongly influential; indeed, Peruvian President Andres Avelino Caceres credited it with stimulating him to pursue needed reforms.In 1904, the novel was published in a bowdlerized English translation with a modified ending. This edition restores the original ending and the translator's omissions. It will be important reading for all students of the indigenous cultures of South America.