Lessons from a Quechua Strongwoman

Using the intriguing storiesand words ofaQuechua-speaking woman named LuisaCadenafromthe PastazaProvince of Ecuador, Janis B. Nuckolls revealsacomplex language system in which ideophony, dialogue,and perspectiveareallat the core of culturaland grammatical communicationsamongAmazonian Quechuaspeakers. This book isafascinating lookat ideophones?words that communicate succinctly through imitative sound qualities. Theyareat the core of Quechuaspeakers' discourse?both linguisticand cultural?because theyallowagencyand reaction to substancesand entitiesas wellas beings. Nuckolls shows that LuisaCadena's utterances give every individual, major or minor,avoice in her narrative. Sometimesas subtleasabarely felt movement or unintelligible sound, the language supportsanamazingly wide variety of voices. Cadena's narrativesand commentaries on everyday events reveal that sound imitation through ideophones, representations of dialogues between humansand nonhumans,and grammatical distinctions betweenaspeaking selfandan otherareall part ofalanguage system thatallows for the possibility of sharedaffects, intentions, moral values,and meaningful, communicative interactions between humansand nonhumans.