Ayacucho, Goodbye and the Portrayal of a Nation\u27s Contradictions

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Peru lived difficult times with the escalation of terrorism. People living in the Andean rural areas were caught between two fires- the terrorists and the military sent to control the latter- and many innocent people were killed or disappeared. Based on these events, Julio Ortega wrote the novella Ayacucho, Goodbye. In this narrative, the dead body of an indigenous peasant leaves his grave in Ayacucho and begins a journey to Lima, the capital of Peru, looking for the parts of his body that were not buried with him, which is really a quest for justice. Sometime after the publication of Ortega\u27s novella, the Peruvian ensemble Yuyachkani created a version for the theater and also named it Ayacucho, Goodbye. This arti cle proposes a commentary on the significance of the play as it deals with Peru\u27s history and the hope for a better destiny. Some of the contradictions that have existed in Peru are examined as they help with interpreting the play