Aguardiente: Liquor, especially a cheap liquor distilled from sugar cañe
Ayllu: A group of related Quechua families; a “community” Caciquismo: Rule by caciques, or rural political bosses Civilismo: A political movement that originally opposed the military through the formation of the Partido Civil (Civil party), but that later represented the joint desire of the aristocracy, big business, and the military to preserve the status quo; as a general term, extreme conservatism
Coló nida: A short-lived Peruvian literary movement to which Mariátegui once belonged, anti-academic in spirit; also, the name of a literary journal
Comunero: Communal landholder
Costumbrista: A term used in Hispanic literature to describe the novel of customs and similar prose
Encomendero: The holder of an encomienda
Encomienda: A tract of land which, with the Indians living on it, was granted by the Spanish crown to favored individuals
Gamonal: An hacendado, latifundista, cacique, or other member of the provincial “establishment”
Greguería: A brief, poetic impression or comparison, usually in one sentence, often surrealistic; “invented” by the Spanish writer Ramó n Gó mez de la Serna
Hacendado: The owner of an hacienda, or landed estáte Latifundista: The owner of a latifundium, or large landed estáte Libra peruana: Ten soles; at the time this book was written, the libra peruana was worth about four U.S. dollars
Limeño: A native of Lima; as an adjective, pertaining to Lima
Lp: Libra peruana
Mestizaje: The mixing of races, especially of the white and the Indian
Minga: A voluntary gathering of Quechuas to work on a communal project
Mita: The colonial system of forced labor under which Indians worked the farms and mines
Montaña: As a regió n of Perú, the forested regió n east of the Andes
Pasadismo: A literary attitude that rejected the present in favor of the past, especially the colonial era Perricholismo: A literary attitude that romanticized the colonial era; pasadismo
Puna: The high plateau of the Andes Quipu: The mnemonic record-keeping device of the Incas, consisting of a main cord with from one to over a hundred colored, knotted strings pendant from it Serrano: One who lives in a mountainous área, specifically the Peruvian sierra region
Sol: The monetary unit of Perú; see Libra peruana Yanaconazgo: A form of tenant farming in which the farmer, or yanacó n, in exchange for the use of a plot of land on which to raise subsistence crops for his family, works on the hacienda lands a given number of days each week and performs other services for the landowner
Yaraví: A type of plaintive Quechua song, often accompanied by the quena, or indigenous flute; literary yaravíes ha ve been written
Zambo: A person of Negro and Indian blood