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P23


Indian imaginaries in Peru 
Convenors:
James Scorer (University of Manchester)
Charlotte Gleghorn (Royal Holloway, University of London)
Paul McAleer (University of Hull)
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Start time:
12 April, 2013 at
Time zone: Europe/London
Session slots:
2

Short Abstract:

This panel analyses the influence of indigeneity on Peruvian cultural imaginaries and practices. Engaging with diverse theories of transculturation, it asks how the Indian dismantles, disrupts or underpins cultural products, forms and policies as part of a struggle over power structures.

Long Abstract:

Variously represented as a retrograde figure of the pre-Columbian past, a celebratory exemplar of an authentic and pure national identity, and a representative of a radical force for the future, the Indian has long influenced - whether wittingly or otherwise - cultural imaginaries, practices and aesthetics in Peru. Despite having no unified Indigenous movement, Peruvian culture continually recycles the figure of the Indian, a mobilisation demonstrative of the highly contested role of indigenous populations within ongoing reconfigurations of the nation-state.

Participating in the construction and contestation of global, national and regional identities and power structures, culture is a privileged site for evaluating struggles over hegemonic 'language[s] of contention' (Larson, 2004: 13). Working with, around and against theories of transculturation, hybridity and mestizaje, therefore, this panel will engage with diverse art forms to address the changing impact of indigeneity on Peruvian culture. Papers will include analysis of photography and indigenismo in the 1930s and 1940s, the depiction of religious customs in the work of Ciro Alegría, and contemporary indigenous film productions and festivals. Though the lived experience of indigeneity provides context to the analysis, the focus is rather on how indigeneity is framed; that is, when and how the imagined - or, indeed, imaginary - Indian is made visible and 'invisible'.

The panel welcomes papers addressing all or some of the issues set out here, not least those that look at cultural forms not mentioned above (e.g. art, comics, music, etc.), or that compare Peru to other Latin American or global contexts.

Accepted papers:

Session 1