The heterogeneous hell in El Sexto, by J. M. Arguedas

In this paper we analyze the parallels between the Dantesque infernal topic and the construction of the prison space in El Sexto, by José María Arguedas. As a first point, we define this relationship as heterogeneous, given that the Dantesque topics coexist with the author’s Andean cosmovision; there is no transcultural scheme of assimilation, but rather of contrast in the relationship between the (autochthonous and rural) Andean and the (western and urban) coastal. As a second point, we illustrate the infernal images (the cemetery, the gigantism and depth of space, despair and torment); however, in the realm of the heterogeneous, we linger on characters such as Alejandro Cámac, Gabriel and Policarpo Herrera, who transcend the hell of prison through purifying justice. This descent into hell has a heterogeneous Virgil and a purification that symbolize a cosmic triumph of the Andean option in the face of the prevailing oppression.