Short stories
Peruvian Traditions
Tradiciones peruanas
Ricardo Palma · 1872
Synopsis
Four hundred and fifty-three short tales about the past of Peru: a few in the time of the Incas, most under the viceroys, others during the struggle for independence and under the Republic. The author starts from an archival document or from an explanation, sometimes invented, of the name of a street or house in Lima; he mixes in proverbs, sayings, songs and verses, addresses the reader in a conversational tone and mocks in passing the political, social and religious institutions.
Context
The tales appeared in newspapers and journals from 1863, then were collected in volumes: four series from 1872 to 1877, a collection of the first six in 1883, Ropa vieja in 1889, Ropa apolillada in 1891, final traditions in 1906 and an appendix in 1910. The adjective Peruvian appears only in 1890, with the Buenos Aires edition; Montaner y Simón published in Barcelona, from 1893 to 1896, an edition in four volumes, and the author's daughters prepared the posthumous six-volume edition, from 1923 to 1925. Historians grant them little documentary value, critics a high literary value.
Who it is for
Short pieces, each of which can be read on its own, in a Spanish rich in sayings; two selections exist in French, by Mathilde Pomès and by Bernard Lavallé.
Prizes and reception
The work that made its author famous, discussed notably by José Carlos Mariátegui; Manuel González Prada considered it retrograde.
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The pages consulted to check this page.