Public Representations of Peru's Highland Quechua People: An Historical Survey

Abstract

Peru's Quechua-speaking indigenous people have been portrayed by the dominant Spanish-speaking society in different ways throughout the five centuries since the Conquest, in response to contemporary social, political and literary trends. Nevertheless, they have always been perceived as ‘the other’ by mainstream society, and have rarely had a voice of their own. It may be, however, that in the 21st century they are able to reclaim their voice, although the ways in which they choose to do so may surprise us. This paper examines the portrayal of the highland Quechua people in Peruvian literature, government documents, academic writings and the media. Rather than an in-depth study, it is a survey of the differing perceptions of the Quechua people from the late 16th century to the beginning of the 21st century, with reference to the Inca Empire, romantic portrayals in 19th-century poetry, the sociological interpretations of the ‘Indian problem’ in early 20th-century Peru, and the use of indigenous people as political or spiritual symbols in more recent times.