Review of Deep Rivers

The concept of cultural belonging pervades the beginning of the text, where he describes the appearance of the Old Man, enters the native city of Cuzco, and examines the stones of the Inca wall. The narrative style, which lies at the intersection between realism and stream-of-consciousness, deepens the effect of his memories as a symbol of his attachment to intuition and subsequent rejection of straightforward logic, contributing to a dream-like journey into the heart of the Andes. The portrayal of the culture is surreal, tinged with an almost magical quality. It bears the shimmering quality of a memory retrieved from the muted depths of a special, though foregone past. The intermittent usage of untranslated words, combined with a rich description of the atmosphere of the city, creates an ambience of familiarity in which the concept of postcolonialism is used for understanding the idiosyncrasies of various cultures in the context of Ernesto’s personal feelings of alienation. I believe that this contrast contributes to a poignant narrative in which, based on descriptions portraying the folklore, music, and culture of the Andean society, the protagonist is confronted with the feelings of cultural alienation resulting from his detachment from a community to which he feels deeply bound. The juxtaposing imagery between the indigenous communities and the nature of the European Milieu intensifies the main character’s experience of displacement, this source of alienation resulting from his lack of belonging in a fragmented world to which he distantly belongs. Although the narrative is relatively straightforward in comparison to some of the other books from this course, its extended length, which includes long-winding descriptions of the setting, and Ernesto’s perspective on particular social affairs, contributed to it being quite a dense text for exploring issues related to cultural identity, postcolonialism, and alienation. A significant aspect of the narrative, which lies in the author’s recollection of his childhood, uncovers how he was taken back into a Westernized Catholic school in his adolescence after having spent time amidst and connected to native culture, which further contributed to his feelings of alienation. Reading this provided me with a basis for sympathy towards the tribulations of mankind, to recognize human beings in their state of innocent loneliness, trapped within their own feelings of alienation, set apart from the world owing to their private despairs and experiences of isolation. Reading this text caused me to wonder: What is the role of culture in regulating internal conflict and fostering connections in society?