Marcial Villarroel Siles

Myths and Legends of the Bolivian Andes Marcial Villarroel Siles

We gladly present this anthological book No 1, with reference to the region of the Andes and part of the series "Myths and Legends in Bolivian Literature." That it was conceived in an attempt to gather the mythical and legendary stories that happened in the territory of Bolivia, written by diverse authors and preferably Bolivians. With the aim of providing a mythological reference with literary sustenance for researchers and students. Living in a region where narrative wealth is everywhere, this book was inevitable. On the one hand, there is the rich bourge of popular culture, an inexhaustible source of myths, legends and stories, as well as all those manifestations of oral tradition that have been transmitted in the spaces of the family. On the other hand, there is that written production that many writers have conceived, either as a tribute to cultural traditions, or with formative intentions. That with its literary and historical quality, as for its theme, has reached meaning and significance for readers and researchers. Although this book does not pretend to be an inventory of the myths and legends of the heart of South America, it has tried to recover (in a laborious bibliographical search, although still unfinished), a specific production through time, with several purposes: One, to return to the readers the mythical literature that belongs to them and that, despite the implacable passage of the years and the epochs, could recover a history almost forgotten. Another, to enrich the imaginary with characters, feelings, situations and landscapes, magical and mythological, belonging to the most typical manifestations of our American culture.