Hiding the Heresy In Plain Sight: Adaptability, Hybridity & Identity in Seventeenth Century Peru
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2014
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Haverford College. Department of History
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Abstract
After the 1572 execution of Túpac Amaru II, the last Sapa Inka, Viceroy Francisco de Toledo sought to establish order throughout the Peruvian countryside-–one ravaged by incessant war, disease, and famine. Spanish authorities utilized brute force and limited native autonomy in an effort to achieve greater centralization in both the religious and governmental spheres. The colonial reality, however, starkly contrasted with Toledo's idealized vision of Peruvian society. This thesis examines the life of one Andean-–among the multitude of others-–who refused to mindlessly assimilate: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala. A former government insider turned exiled outsider, Guaman Poma took calculated risks, engaged in a strategy of self-promotion, and continuously adapted in order to survive within his changing environment. This project employs a micro-historical approach and explores the connections between an individual Andean and the colonial macro-culture in which he lived. The first section traces Guaman Poma's blending of history and fiction in his 1,188 page chronicle: El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno. I will argue that Guaman Poma's strategy of self-aggrandizement and infusion of fantastical elements into his work can be beneficial to historians, and illuminates his desires of launching a social critique and reaping personal gain. Section two analyzes Guaman Poma's illustrations, in particular his use of both European artistic conventions (figural representation and linear perspective) and Andean spatial symbolism. I speculate that Guaman Poma revived Andean sensibilities by creating an experimental khipu; thus actively constructing anew via the modification of an ancient recording system. The third section offers a critique of structuralism, and contends that multiple meanings exist within the visual record of El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno. Finally, section four examines the creations of other historical actors in mid-colonial Peru; thus abandoning the study of Guaman Poma beneath the microscope for a more holistic approach. Because hybridity constitutes a strategy for cultural survival, this project shifts its focus as a means to connect Guaman Poma's chronicle to the religious syncretism found in colonial church architecture, shrines, and public rituals.