Response to Pop Culture as Folk Culture
First, Arguedas’ The Pongo’s Dream was significantly easier for me to understand than Asturias’ collection of fables. For that reason I will start by considering Arguedas’ story. It was a very interesting tale, short but terrifying. The treatment that the pongo received was troubling and degrading, and I can of ended up just assuming that pongo was not particularly well educated since he did not attempt to converse with the lord about his treatment. Arguedas seems to be portraying a pitiful man who has nothing and is completely controlled by his master. Despite this, the pongo tells a story to the lord that says that he is not as unfortunate as the lord paints him out to be. In the end, the pongo is either equal to the lord or slightly better. It seems to me that the pongo represents the average indigenous person, and the lord the average person of Spanish descent. Assuming this to be the case then it follows that the pongo represents that although seemingly obedient and silent, t...