The jungle as a mythical and utopian imaginary: Babá Osaím, Cimarrón, prays for the dead saint by Cronwell Jara

Abstract

After framing Cronwell Jara’s production in the context of the Afro-Peruvian tradition, and after questioning the isolated treatment critics have given to it, we are especially interested in the story “Barranzuelo: an African King in the Paititi” because of its language, written under the effect of oralization, discursive representations of the forest, configuration of the black characters in that context, and also under the influence of the myth of Paititi. The writer readdresses the myth of the lost Inca city, where a treasure was hidden.