For more than three decades José María Arguedas steadily wove new colors into his work. He produced a Peruvian mosaic which reflects the nuances of changing literary, sociological, and philosophical thought. It is this constantly flowing creative process which stands out in the total literary production of Arguedas….

The brooding presence of Arguedas's native Andean environment hovers over his first writings: Agua, 1935, a simple collection of three stories. At the same time his deep sensibility and his anger against feudal repression place him immediately with writers of social protest, even if his initial literary efforts could not keep pace with his determination to denounce the injustice. (p. 225)

The crest of Peru's regionalism belongs to the years 1930 to 1945, and in his initial stage of literary development, Arguedas struck the dominant chords of contemporary literature in his country. He used the primary elements of local settings and social protest...