El neoperuano

This pithy book is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersections of urban landscapes, nationalism, political and social power, postcolonialism, art and architecture at the service of the state, indigenismo, diasporic communities, and the appropriation of the archaeological past for contemporary goals. Written clearly, cogently argued, well documented, and abundantly illustrated (with congratulations to the press for the high quality of image reproduction), Gabriel Ramón Joffré offers us highly original insights into the relationship between the changing physiognomy of Lima—the capital city of Peru—and the social, political, and economic forces that were inscribing themselves on the urban landscape in the early twentieth century.Ramón Joffré observes that the past is ever visible in coastal Peru, for huacas (ancient adobe platform mounds) dot the agricultural fields, towns, and cities that have grown up in the multiple river valleys. He documents the many pre-Hispanic architectural references present in various public buildings of the time, such as the National School of Fine Arts (1924). Indeed, the father of Peruvian archaeology, Julio C. Tello, and the eminent architect Emilio Harth-Terré both prominently incorporated pre-Hispanic architectural details and motifs into their homes at this time of high indigenismo. This environment of interest, appropriation, and replication of pre-Hispanic heritage is what Ramón Joffré identifies as neoperuano. It is implicated in Peru's search for national roots and is inextricable from the many manifestations of indigenismo (literature, art, theater, music, dance, and buildings).Neoperuanismo was especially prominent during the oncenio (eleven-year dictatorship) of President Augusto Leguía. Ramón Joffré brilliantly reveals new aspects of the Patria Nueva (New Country)—Leguía's political ideology—notably Leguía's engagement with and deployment of the “graphic scenery” of the pre-Hispanic past (p. 36). Importantly, Ramón Joffré situates Leguía's attitudes toward the descendants of Peru's ancient inhabitants—the living Indians who at that time suffered in the direst circumstances—in the context of indigenismo.Ramón Joffré recognizes the dynamic interaction—physical and symbolic—between the city of Lima and its huacas. The early twentieth century was a time of active investigation of the pre-Hispanic landscape and of dynamic construction of national identity. The neoperuano style reflected this. Ramón Joffré offers an incisive treatment of Lima's urban expansion and extraordinary public building spree under the so-called Aristocratic Republic that preceded Leguía and even more so during the oncenio. His argument based on textual sources is compellingly illustrated in tables and figures. This aspect of the volume is all the more timely given the current Lima Milenaria campaign, which seeks to rehabilitate Lima's remaining monumental pre-Hispanic architecture as an economic development project for neighborhoods, a generator of identity and heritage conservation, and a vehicle for the recovery of public space. The oncenio and today's Lima Milenaria are fascinating contrasts to Ramón Joffré's documentation of massive huaca destruction following the overthrow of Leguía as elite monied interests extended the urbanization of Lima outward from its historic, power-bearing core.One of the most interesting concepts in the volume is “fijar la raíz,” by which Ramón Joffré considers the tensions in the relationship being drawn at that time between the pre-Hispanic origins of the nation, its modern construction, and which ancient civilizations to appropriate. Of particular interest is his discussion of the debates in the archaeological community that swirled around the Museo de Arqueología and the pre-Hispanic society that it referenced. Ramón Joffré shines in his control of the archaeological data and its contemporary interpretations.Roots also played out in the actions of the Japanese diaspora in their adopted country of Peru. Ramón Joffré relates the history of the Japanese community's gift of a neoperuano monumental statue of Manco Capac, the legendary first Inca emperor, to Peru on the occasion of its centenary celebration of independence from Spain. To his excellent synthesis of sources Ramón Joffré adds an important new insight as he interprets the transfer of the statue from its original location to a less favorable one, in a lower-class zone plagued by crime and prostitution. Leguía's successors clearly were disrespecting the former president as well as the Japanese community, which Leguía had enthusiastically embraced.Gabriel Ramón Joffré weaves a consistent thread through the various examples that he identifies as neoperuano. Ultimately this book is about a particularly dramatic and contradictory period in Peru when Leguía was, on the one hand, appropriating pre-Columbian symbols and referencing indigenismo while, on the other hand, Lima's traditional elite (whom Ramón Joffré calls the “official city”) was bolstering and defending its privilege against the claims of an increasing number of indigenous and mestizo lower-class and middle-class residents. The urban landscape was a prime venue for political and social contestation. Ramón Joffré's succinct discussion of the decades following Leguía up to the turn of the new millennium reveals the continuing importance of the neoperuano concept.This is a tremendously important book that should be widely read

Appropriation · Archaeology · Art · Dance · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · State (computer science) · Visual arts · Archaeology and Cultural Heritage · Architecture · History · History and Politics in Latin America · Latin American Urban Studies · Law

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