Oral judgement: Don Quijote's nonsenses on the Quechua version

Abstract

The recent news of the translation of the second part of don Quijote to Quechua –the most widely spoken indigenous language in the Andean region– has raised great expectations in Peru, Latin America and Spain, countries that are celebrating the 400th year anniversary of the book‘s publication (part two,1615). However a careful reading of the Quechua version of Cervantes‘ novel (part one), contains inaccuracies and arbitrariness that begin from the very title. This article analyze the translation of Demetrio Tupac Yupanqui that intersperses two incompatible codes, forcing the oral nature of Quechua language into writing discourse of a novel, which make it illegible for Quechua speaker readers.