Author ORCID Identifier
Abstract
This work examines the contemporary cultural productions of Cerro de Pasco, a city in constant destruction due to an ever-expanding open pit mine that has grown to over a mile wide since the 1950s. Drawing on Latin American environmental humanities and discursive analysis, I conduct a close reading of poems, stories, performances, and audiovisual works by local artists responding to this largely overlooked apocalyptic scenario. By analyzing narrative strategies such as repetition and irony, I identify recurring themes and establish common concerns related to extractivism, urban extinction, illness, and death. This study seeks to understand how these cultural productions envision the future of a city under constant threat and explores how Cerro de Pasco's case might serve as a synecdoche for the global ecological crisis, offering insights into artistic responses to environmental devastation in the face of institutional neglect.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Martinez Arias, Jack.
"On the Edge of the Abyss: Cultural Responses to Extractivism in the Andes."
Critical Humanities
3,
2
(2025).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33470/2836-3140.1066