Cultural Narratives in Literature Classes An Ethnographic Study in Indigenous Schools of Peru

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines how cultural narratives are integrated, negotiated, and transmitted within literature classes in indigenous schools across Peru's Amazon and Andean regions. The research investigates the intersection between indigenous oral traditions, Western literary canons, and contemporary pedagogical practices in bilingual intercultural education contexts. Through eighteen months of participant observation, interviews with educators and community knowledge keepers, and analysis of classroom interactions in Quechua, Aymara, and Shipibo-Konibo communities, this study reveals complex processes of cultural preservation, adaptation, and resistance within formal educational settings. Findings demonstrate that literature instruction serves as a contested space where indigenous epistemologies encounter colonial educational legacies, creating opportunities for cultural revitalization while simultaneously exposing tensions between standardized curricula and community-based knowledge systems. The research contributes to decolonial education scholarship by illuminating how indigenous communities strategically utilize literature pedagogy to maintain cultural continuity, assert linguistic sovereignty, and prepare younger generations to navigate multicultural realities while preserving distinct cultural identities and worldviews.