Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 15:51:03 +0100 (MET) From: rolf.martens-AT-mailbox.swipnet.se (Rolf Martens) Subject: M-G: Fwd: 1/2 NEUE EINHEIT: Criticism of J.C.Mariátegui by Klaus Sender Fwd: 1/2 NEUE EINHEIT: Criticism of J.C.Mari=E1tegui by Klaus Sender [Re-forwarded, with a couple of notes on language etc: 06.01.98] Subject: 1/2 NEUE EINHEIT: Criticism of J.C.Mari=E1tegui by Klaus Sender From: weklu-AT-aol.com Date: 1997/07/02 Newsgroups: alt.politics.radical-left,alt.politics.socialism, alt.politics.socialism.mao,alt.politics.usa, alt.society.revolution (- Part 1/2 -) NEUE EINHEIT Extrablatt Nr. 32 Klaus Sender JOS=C9 CARLOS MARI=C1TEGUI AND CULTURAL QUESTIONS OF THE PERUVIAN REVOLUTION (Translation of the German text) I. Among the revolutionaries of Latin America, José Carlos Mari=E1tegui has become very well-known internationally during the past years, unmistakably he is occupying an important role in the entire Latin-American revolution. Besides numerous Marxist writings which deal with political practice and the program, he wrote a lot about Peruvian literature and culture. Beyond Latin America, only during the last decades he was moved more into the public awareness. So far the translations of his "Siete ensayos de interpretaci=F3n de la realidad Peruana" and of a further dozen of articles have been published in German. Mari=E1tegui comes from the Peruvian revolution of the first third of this century. Numerous political parties and even governments in Latin America refer to him. The PCP (Sendero Luminoso of J. C. Mari=E1tegui) refers to him just by its name and very decidedly enters the claim for him. In order to deal with him it is necessary to see the role of the Peruvian revolution in the international context and, moreover, the role of Latin America in general in the international development. Peru is the country in Latin America which is characterized by the strongest and most intense reverting to its own early American history, the Incan history preceding the Spanish conquest. Thereby the country has individual national impetusses in the deep embedding of the millenia-old Indian culture which combine themselves with the more recent development of the Spanish vice-kingdom and the modern Peruvian republic (since 1821). A long-standing peculiarity of the Peruvian revolution lies exactly in the reverting to this old Peruvian people's consciousness which above all embodies itself in the Incan population. This reverting to the indigenous traditions has been a characteristic feature in the literature of the country as well as of other Andine states for approximately one hundred years. The importance of J. C. Mari=E1tegui derives from his application of Marxism which undisputedly played such an important and propellant role in the whole world at the beginning of this century, to the Latin American conditions, and from his attempt, among other things, to join together with these traditions and to concentrate the light of materialistic analysis upon these traditions themselves. The Latin-Americans therefore are looking at him as an important and original representative of Marxism who creatively undertook to reappraise the own history as well as the history of the Latin-American continent. Up to now the state of Peru is the core area of the old Peruvian, or rather Incan, state which at its zenith extended from Ecuador to the South, far into Chile, and according to some conjectures even to the La Plata region of South America. It was here that the most highly developed state community of the American Indians emerged that ever existed, resulting in a state of approximately 20 millions of inhabitants, with a high level of organization, of road construction and centralization although this society still was living on the Bronze Age cultural level. It was still accompanied by a good deal of phenomena which are being found frequently at that stage of development. Belonging to these human sacrifices, sacral cults and similar phenomena and a corresponding despotism are to be named here. Already a long time before Incan rule a culture of village communities had been existing in the Andes, and the Incas presumably were an "Ayllu" (this is the ancient village community in the Andes) which worked its way up to be the ruler of the other state-like groupings. The Incan empire then continued to incorporate a lot of neighbouring realms. This society did not know the wheel, the script as far as we know, the horse and several technological achievements which developed in the Euro-African-Asian hemisphere; but on the other hand it displayed a high degree of organization, in road construction e.g., and developed specific, relatively advanced ethics, as far as that was possible within the context of the Bronze Age. As other Indian cultures, too, the Incan society with its rural village communities is characterized by deep closeness to the soil and to the development of agriculture and of agricultural construction (terraces). Among other things the writings of Mari=E1tegui are valuable because he attempted to comprehend the communist traditions of that society, which still were existent in spite of the already developed despotism. It is in the nature of things that the awareness of these old traditions emerged most strongly in Peru. Therefore some people view Peru to be something like a place of national rebirth for the South American continent, at least in a specific regard. This "in a specific regard" is quite important as, of course, already for a long time modern structures, a modern society have been existing in Latin America, a capitalist society which inevitably is winning through with every day. But we know that in all societies the old structures and also the old mentalities implant themselves amidst the other factors, and that they form also an indispensable component of the culture of a country. * Each society brings something into modern society also by its descent.* And considering this we have to evaluate this ideology and these mentalities. Therefore Mari=E1teguis theoretical approach to explain this individual development in a Marxist vein is of import. Of course, also some modern factors must be brought to the limelight. We must ask, for example: which significance does this Andine agriculture have for the modern Peruvian economy? There are theories which advocate that the fraction of the Gross Domestic Product which is being produced there has become a tiny one. Today out of 25 million citizens 6 millions are living in Lima alone - a concentration into the large cities, with new misery and a situation of radical change like that existing in many parts of the Third World today, which naturally brings up completely new questions. Marx once said about Germany in the middle of 19th century that the cause of the revolution depended upon a new edition of the great peasants' war of 1522-1525 in Germany which had to combine itself with the proletarian revolution. Mari=E1tegui definitely tries likewise to integrate the old history and the colonial early republican Latin America into the new revolutionary development. In this way he tried to awaken the consciousness of the society as a whole, an interrelatedness of the whole society. In doing so, however, he did not remain without essential faults. To be clear: we think that an unambiguous criticism of wrong and even really dangerous aspects of his views is indispensable. Mari=E1tegui has been defended by the chairman of the PCP, Gonzalo, as an advocate of revolutionary violence in particular. He particularly attacked that "mediocre reformism" as he said, which in a hypocritical manner celebrates the parliamentary system, in which actually the dictatorship of the exploiting classes, even of the most reactionary comprador bourgeoisie is covered and put into practice, in which actually terror against the masses exists, accompanied by hypocritical phrases of humanity and human rights outwardly. In fact, this element among others is present in Mari=E1tegui, we shall, however, come back to this subject later. Of fundamental importance remains the question, however: which social substance, which class does the violence serve, what is its social character? With that we have to deal here. As for our points of criticism, we have our eyes essentially on the following ones: First the position towards the former American, Incan society, a position which is considerably characterized by one-sidedness and an uncritical attitude, a position apparently widespread also in other indigenous writings. If Mari=E1tegui dealt with the former Incan society, we have to consider in which way he did so correctly. If we draw from the old primary communist conditions of the past, we also have to take into consideration the utterly negative aspects of these old American societies. Furthermore there is an obvious point in Mari=E1tegui concerning the position towards religion, the catholic one in particular, where still several things have to be analyzed. In his analysis Mari=E1tegui quite often refers even to George Sorel, who rightfully is being described by Lenin as a fideist and chaotic person and muddle-head. It is, however, exactly this idealist whom Mari=E1tegui tries to incorporate into his building, and of whom he absorbs elements. In the same way his position towards religion and towards the Jesuits in South America is unclear. Gonzalo is mistaken in calling Mari=E1tegui a "thorough Marxist- Leninist" as there are elements with him which are incompatible with Marxism. So, there are elements of idealism with Mari=E1tegui. Finally we shall sum up furthermore: With Mari=E1tegui there is an epistemological phenomenon which apparently is widespread upon the whole American continent, which comes closer to pragmatism and which has its troubles with materialism and materialist cognition. Pragmatism, which means to construct a reality for oneself, is something principally different as compared with the acknowledgement of a materially existing reality, to which we come closer by the process of realization. It is necessary to principally point to this weakness. Pragmatism is something principally different from materialism, although both refer also to practice and experience. The principal approach in the whole way of thinking is playing a role here. [Note: By "principally different" and "principial approach" here, the author no doubt meant to say "different in principle", respectively "approach on principle", overlooking the difference in meaning between the German word "prinzipiell" and the Eng- lish "principal". The same error recurs later. - RM, Jan '98] II. ABOUT INCAN SOCIETY Now let us proceed to the concrete points. In his most famous writing, "Seven Interpretative Essays on Peruvian Reality" Mari=E1tegui writes the following in the beginning of the chapter on economic development: "Until the conquista, an economy developed in Peru which came out of the soil and the people of Peru spontaneously and freely. In the Incan empire, that joining together of agricultural and settled communes, the most interesting was the economy. All historical testimonies agree in the statement that the people of the Incas - hard-working, disciplined, pantheist and simple - lived in material well-being. Livelihood was abundant; the population was growing, Malthus' problem was completely unknown to the empire. The collectivistic organization led by the Incas had weakened the individual impetus in the Indios; but, to the benefit of this economic system, it had developed the habit of a modest and religious obedience towards their social duty to an extraordinary extent. The Incas reaped any possible kind of social benefit from this virtue of their people, they increased the value of the vast realm by constructing roads, channels etc., they expanded it by sujugating neighbouring tribes to their authority. Collective labour, common efforts had fruitful effects upon social aims." (From: "Esquema de la evolucion economica" - Outline of economic development - p. 17 of the German edition. Translation corrected from the Spanish original) This quotation, the gist of which is being repeated in Mari=E1teguis works in different forms, touches a central point of Mari=E1teguis historical and cultural views: the picture of Incan society as a harmonious society from the mass of the people up to the Incan aristocracy. In the Andean region, in which later the Incan empire was erected, the village communities called Ayllus with their channels, their terraces and their developed agriculture had been existing for a long time before the Incas erected their rule. These village communities had already had a history of many centuries. The culture of these Andine people stands out due to deep closeness to the soil and had produced excellent agricultural results. Significantly enough, this culture had developed in the Andine plateau, not in the coastal oases or in the tropical rain forest. People struggled against the tough natural conditions, and eventually their culture stood upon a higher level than the culture of the inhabitants of the river mouths. (The conditions of the sea climate at the South American west coast cause deserts in the coastal strip, which are interrupted by oases at the river mouths.) These village communities which had an organisation of the agricultural land similar to the Old-German Mark and the Slavic Obshcina and which, as Engels noted already, astonishingly bear the denomination "Marca" as well, produced early forms of state organization even prior to the Incas. Moreover, historical research assumes that a relatively large trade had developed already, and possibly preliminary forms of money. The Incas were a tribe, very probably originating from the region of the today lake Titicaca, which brought the numerous estranged "Ayllus" as well as the centres under its military overlordship. At first they conquered the region around Cuzco by overcoming the local powers by cunning and force. From there they were able to take larger and even larger regions. After 300 years this state had occupied the area of a truly large empire extending from today's Ecuador far to the Southern Andes and even, according to the assumptions of some historicians, to the La Plata region. This community bore the name "Tawantinsuyo". The concept of the state, at the same time the great historic achievement of this empire, consisted in a centralization of the forces of the single estranged Indian communities which transcended the regions, in the unification of the language which was at least partly achieved, in the inclusion of backward regions which were brought to the level of the then advanced regions. This, however, did not come about without the formation of a class society, in the course of the building of which the Ayllus were committed to cultivate up to two thirds of their soil for the interest of the Inca (appr. one third) and the theocracy (a further third). A tribute system was created which had to be taken without objection. Wealth concentrated upon the Inca and his surrounding favourites, upon the military- bureaucratic stratum and the theocracy (all of them being members of the Inca tribe). * The social reality of this state was by no means only idyll and harmony. * The Inca concentrated incomprehensible wealth, which culminated in the laying out of whole gardens in which everything was reproduced of gold, of precious gowns and food really in abundance. On the contrary, life of a simple peasant of a village community who had to pay tribute looked anything but extensive. He actually toiled his life long, always confined to the narrowness of his Ayllu, and as to his material well-being, this was indeed very modest. One may take into consideration the social security of his life which, though, actually was provided by the Indian community in which he lived and not primarily by the Incan system which itself existed on the fundament of these communities. There was the "mita"-system, that is to say forced commitment of the inhabitant of the Ayllu for large works in mines, in the construction of roads and fortifications. Incidentally the Spaniards were able to tie up to this system immediately after their conquest by placing themselves in the place of the Incas. Under the Incas there was the "yanacona"-status which at least resembled the slave status of the old empires in the Mediterranean region. A great part of the phenomena of the Incan empire are to be found in other early empires as well. The emergence of slavery and of the system of tribute are not uncommon at that historical stage and thereby not to be condemned, although this Incan system shows a couple of peculiarities. But to depict all this as a communist idyll signalizes - to put it mildly - romantic blindness which cannot be accepted without objection. Obviously such an attitude towards the own history is bound to influence today's policy as well, all cultural factors being of political import. The country witnessed uprisings, too, which were put down in blood by the Inca. It must not be forgotten that also the system of the Incas was a system of barbaric human sacrifice, which cannot be dismissed with a reference to religious fervor alone but already was a means of repression. A further obvious point was the compulsory recruiting of young women from the ayllus and the conquered cities for various functions of the Incan system. This led to a particular aversion to the Incan system. These girls were recruited to be "holy women" of the sun (the symbol of the supreme god) as well as labour force, as well as numerous bedfellows of the upper castes. As far as human sacrifice is concerned: according to various descriptions it assumes the magnitude of several hundreds of children for certain "festive" events. It is not clear to what extent it has not been especially introduced by the Incan system. Some of the states preceding the Incas knew human sacrifice on a large scale, the Chimu e.g. (a coastal realm), and some facts indicate its having been moderated with the Incas as compared with others. It is completely certain that the number of victims was limited as compared with the Aztec and Maya cultures in Middle America, e.g. It is a fact worth notice that for example also in China a long struggle took place during the last millennium before the year 0 in order to make an end to the former large-scale human sacrifices, of which there were hundreds as so-called burial objects. [Note: Not to nitpick, but just to set the historical record straight: There wasn't actually any "year 0". Not even the ("or- dinary") Christian fideists claim there was. - RM] It is by no means certain if the ayllus in the highlands of the Central Andes knew this human sacrifice, especially in these numbers. It is important that one must not idealize or trivialize such an empire of early times. This is a very dangerous mistake and a fatuous undertaking. With the development unfolding this human sacrifice meant a tremendous humiliation of the people. It has been handed down that giving one's daughter for sacrifice provided a privilege for the career as an official. It was a means of terror by which this rule was being held together, in addition to the force employed in the repression of rebellious people. With view to all these facts it is eccentric to call the early state of the Incas communist as does Mari=E1tegui. One has some justification in calling the village community agrarian communism, but it is only the productive unity, it is not identical with the Incan system. The whole thing reminds a little of Alexander Herzen who sometimes trivialized zarism and embellished the picture of the Russian village communes and called them an already existing "communism". But even Alexander Herzen is much more critically minded towards the Russian conditions than is Mari=E1tegui towards the Old Peruvian ones. Finally the pitiless bloody massacres of the Incas among themselves show that it is not a "harmonious" communist society we are dealing with but a developing slave system and feudalism emerging from barbarism. One should read what the followers of Atahualpa (the last Inca, ruler of the North) did to the partisans and even to the uninvolved retinue of Huascar during the Incan civil war. This is being dealt with even by the famous Inca biographer Garcilaso de la Vega, who is a descendant of the house of the Inca himself. ((To be continued in Part 2/2)) Copyright by Klaus Sender, Berlin, 1997 ___________________________________________________________ neue einheit Zeitschrift fuer Politik, Oekonomie und Kultur - Extrablatt Nr.32 - _______________________(1/2)_______________________________ copyright 1997 Verlag NEUE EINHEIT (Inh.H.Dicke) Koernebachstr.50, D-44143 Dortmund, Germany or D-10973 Berlin, Postfach 309, Phone: +49-231-838932 resp. +49-30-6937470 --Posted on behalf of the author.-- [Re-fwd by RM] --- from list marxism-general-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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