Arguedas differs from other Peruvian writers who have taken up Andean themes, not only because of his knowledge of the sierra, but also because of his attitude toward the reality expressed in those themes. Arguedas does not show commiseration or charity for the Indian, nor any of those sentiments that ultimately express a distance between whoever is writing and whatever he writes about; rather, he reveals a prior and total identification: he speaks of the sierra as of himself. Therefore, although he points out vices and presents criticism, Arguedas never appears as a judge, always as an impartial witness. This attitude is reflected in the calm poise of his style, in its particular accent of sincerity. (pp. 53-4)

In his novels and short stories, José María Arguedas succeeds—the first to do so in Latin America—in replacing the abstract and subjective Indians created by the Modernists...