Sensing the Landscape: Resisting Land Commodification through Alternative Cartographies in Manuel Scorza’s Redoble por Rancas (1970)

This article examines the interconnections between storytelling and mapmaking in Manuel Scorza’s Redoble por Rancas. I interpret the novel as a form of narrative cartography, with Fortunato’s journey across the Pampa de Junín mapping an alternative cartography that challenges the Cerro de Pasco Corporation’s attempts to displace and alienate the comuneros from land and relations. In Redoble por Rancas, the land is not depicted as a blank space awaiting occupation but rather serves as a repository and catalyst for memories of the atrocities and injustices committed by the company, while also revealing stories of alternative ways of relating to other-than-human beings. It is the care and respect that comuneros like Fortunato show for these entities – refusing to reduce them to mere resources – that drives them to oppose the company and its allies, despite the slim chances of success. In this way, Scorza demonstrates greater openness to the practices and knowledges of central sierra peoples than previous critiques have recognised. However, the novel also suggests that these ways of doing and knowing may be insufficient unless integrated with additional sources of politicisation and forms of political action.