Right: The poem "My Countryman" by José Salvador Cavero is written in Quechua in the book Lira Huamanguina, published in Ayacucho (Peru) in 1950

It is his interest in how Quechua has been reinvented throughout history, the country’s evolving language policy and the current state of bilingualism in Peru – a concept Canada also struggles with – that has earned Durston the , worth $25,000 in research funding. The prize is awarded annually to an outstanding new researcher. This is in addition to the three-year standard SSHRC research grant he received last year worth $60,000 for his project, “The Social History of Quechua Letters: Modern Peru, 1900-1975”.

Quechua’s written history dates back to the 16th century, when Spanish conquerors introduced the Roman alphabet and sought to convert the population to Christianity using indigenous language texts. “However, it is not until the start of the 20th century that we find written Quechua being used for a wide range of purposes,” says Durston. Intellectuals started writing plays, poetry, political propaganda, speeches, medical texts and newspaper and journal articles in Quechua to fuel national identity and nation-building by reaching a broader section of the population.

“Suddenly, we have this boom. New kinds of texts that haven’t appeared before start appearing,” says Durston. As Latin American countries moved away from Western influence, the rising middle class turned toward indigenous cultural traditions and developed an interest in the country’s indigenous language. “This was a high point of Latin American nationalism.” It’s also a period that has attracted little scholarly attention. “People today aren’t aware of the diversity and richness of what’s available.” Much of the material is housed in one library and is mostly forgotten.

Left: Alan Durston

One of the barriers preventing Quechua from becoming a more mainstream written language is its perceived association with the Incas. People think they have to write Quechua the way the Incas would have spoken it, but that’s absurd, says Durston. “Quechua is not just this fossil, this relic of the Incas; it’s a living language. You can write it the way people speak today.”

Quechua continues to be spoken by people not only in Peru, but Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina, and by many who wouldn’t consider themselves indigenous. In some parts of Peru it is spoken universally. But since the 1950s, production of literary material in Quechua has dropped significantly. Most people writing in Quechua today have little training in it as there is such a dearth of available written material to read, says Durston.

Although Quechua was given official language status in the 1970s, it wasn’t promoted, he says. Unlike in Canada where all road signs, food items, government forms, documents and the like are in both official languages, Quechua doesn’t appear next to Spanish anywhere. “It hasn’t really succeeded as a written language in politics or law.”

He hopes his research, however, will increase interest in the current stock of written Quechua material and in producing more. “I do think my research has the potential to help Quechua in Peru,” says Durston.

As part of his project, he plans to write a book in both Spanish and English about his research and develop an online archive of written Quechua material that will be available to anyone. He is the author of , which looks at the world of colonial Quechua culture through language.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Sturgeon’s internationally known research on the relationship between environmental and social justice movements, her planned collaborative research with 91��ɫ faculty and her graduate course on environmental justice cultural studies qualified her for the award.

The Fulbright Scholar Program, sponsored by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, sends 800 faculty and professionals abroad each year to lecture and conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields.

Right: Noël Sturgeon

“FES at 91��ɫ is the largest environmental studies program in North America,” says . “I’ll have a chance to work with prominent scholars and graduate students in a rare interdisciplinary environmental studies context, defining and expanding the new field of environmental justice cultural studies.”

Her most recent research examines environmental messages portrayed in popular culture since the late 1980s. In one chapter of her recent book, , for example, Sturgeon has identified a consistent formula in popular movies that inaccurately depicts an inherent spiritual closeness of indigenous people with the natural world. This stereotype appears repeatedly in movies such as and .

Sturgeon believes this misrepresentation is just the beginning of where these plots go awry in terms of real solutions to current environmental problems. Typically, these formulaic storylines then morph into action-adventure dramas where the heroic American white male archetype, who has “seen the light” – usually through romantic involvement with a native woman or an attachment to a special animal – bonds with the indigenous culture to save them from the “bad guys”, for example other American-like white males who are fixated on conquering land and indigenous people for their own gain.

To Sturgeon, these movies are insidious on many levels, but especially because they leave moviegoers empty in terms of environmental solutions that are just and fair for all. “While people today might admire the many traits typically assigned to indigenous people, fantasizing that all would be better environmentally if we could just become hunter-gatherers or escape to another planet is a dangerous fantasy,” says Sturgeon.

And when these formulaic plots become focused on the fight for colonization, real solutions for global environmental action are bypassed. “I’ve spoken with students who have left Avatar feeling powerless about issues surrounding environmentalism – they are given no tools for correcting injustice or saving the planet,” she says.

Her book unpacks a variety of cultural tropes, including ideas about Mother Nature, the purity of the natural and the allegedly close relationships of indigenous people with the natural world.

Sturgeon is on the graduate faculty for the WSU American Studies program. In addition to environmental cultural studies, her research and teaching interests include feminist theory, social movements, and theories of globalization and transnationalism. She is widely published in peer-reviewed journals and is also the author of .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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It’s been a year of research-intensive events and activities in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and one of the most notable initiatives has been the Research Matters series. It attempts to answer the question: “Why does research matter?” In particular, it focuses on the ways in which LA&PS researchers – both faculty and students – are using their skills and expertise to address timely community, cultural, social, economic and industry challenges.

Missed out on a Research Matters session? Videos and audio files are available online.

There are two more Research Matters sessions scheduled this year, open to the 91��ɫ community. The first, which will be held on March 24 from 10am to noon in 109 Atkinson Building, takes up the theme of knowledge mobilization. Michael Johnny, manager of 91��ɫ’s Unit, will provide general insights into what knowledge mobilization is and how it ties to LA&PS researchers. Professor from the School of Social Work will discuss his knowledge mobilization efforts in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender research.

The second session will be held on April 19 from 10am to noon in 305 91��ɫ Lanes and will focus on human rights, international law and global health policy. Political science Professor Lesley Jacobs, director of the , will present in collaboration with four emerging 91��ɫ scholars: Hope Olumide Shamonda (PhD candidate in philosophy);  (PhD candidate in philosophy); Ruby Dhand (PhD candidate in law); and Mariette Brennan (PhD candidate in law).

The series has also explored topics ranging from pandemic planning, indigenous research and China’s competitive advantage in the world market to the grammar of aid in international development, community engagement as methodological practice, and, most recently, the value of Canada’s North.

“One of the highlights of the year for me in the role of associate dean, research, has been the launch of this series,” says Professor Barbara Crow. “I’ve gained helpful insight into the individual and collaborative research undertakings of faculty and students, and enjoyed watching connections being made between academic research and what’s going on in our communities, our workplaces and our lives.”

To RSVP for either of the upcoming sessions, e-mail Lorraine Myrie at lmyrie@yorku.ca.

Republished with files courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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