I come to sing a corrido: the highwayman in Mapuche poetry williche

Abstract

In this article I explore the way that the Mexican corrido has followed from its origins in the Spanish romance through its emergence and development in Mexico, arriving then to the south of Chile and appearing in poems by contemporary Mapuche authors. The aim is to depict a transatlantic transfer that continues its geographic and temporal journey till it reaches contemporary Williche poetry of writers like Bernardo Colipan, Juan Luis Huenun and Juan Paulo Huirimilla. I want to map it to provide a context and then deepen in the analysis of this phenomenon and its contribution to literature. Through the study of the poems will be demonstrated the contact zones between the Chilean poetic lore, that of the Mapuche, and the Mexican music with its Hispanic roots.