Elicura Chihuailaf: Oralitura, (Self-) Translation and Cultural Mediation Across Trans-Indigenous Networks

Abstract

Current literary productions of Indigenous authorship have established their own “significant geographies”: imaginative and real communities of literary production and projection that authors inhabit beyond the imposed universalist categories of “world” and “global.” In this context, the Mapuche writer Elicura Chihuailaf stands as a clear example of a cultural mediator committed to the strengthening of interperipheral networks among Indigenous literatures in Abya Yala. The roles that Chihuailaf performs will be analyzed through three related and confluent cultural products and practices: his development of the concept of oralitura, his (self-) translating practice, and his work as cultural agent. The term oralitura will be analyzed in terms of its regional impact and dissemination in the configuration of trans-Indigenous conversations. Chihuailaf’s role as a self-translator and translator of non-Mapuche texts into Mapudungun will be studied as an intercultural practice and political gesture that puts Mapudungun on a par with Spanish as a literary language. His role as a cultural agent will be examined through his participation in the organizing of two historical literary events: Zugutrawun (1994) and Taller de Escritores en Lenguas Indígenas de América (1997), both being milestones for the regional networking of Indigenous writers.