Silencios históricos y la identidad nacional: la inmigración china al Perú en siglo XIX
Faculty Sponsor
Rafaela Acevedo-Field and Katherine Karr-Cornejo, Whitworth University
Research Project Abstract
This paper explores Chinese immigration to Peru in the nineteenth century through the mediums of literature and photography with an emphasis on gender. While Chinese Peruvians were an important part of the development of Peru’s national identity, their contribution was largely silenced. However, this silence is a form of history. Using Ricardo Palma’s Tradiciones peruanas, a contemporary text that was influential in defining Peruvian national identity, this paper addresses the role that literature plays in creating these silences as it relates to those who do not fit neatly into literature’s often binary structure. It also utilizes photographs as a mediator between history and literature, and argues that photographs can serve as a type of text that can discuss what literature often silences. The silent spaces that Chinese Peruvians occupied require creative exploration and a willingness to move outside of and across the boundaries set by past historical texts.
Session Number
SS4
Location
Weyerhaeuser 303
Abstract Number
SS4-a
Silencios históricos y la identidad nacional: la inmigración china al Perú en siglo XIX
Weyerhaeuser 303
This paper explores Chinese immigration to Peru in the nineteenth century through the mediums of literature and photography with an emphasis on gender. While Chinese Peruvians were an important part of the development of Peru’s national identity, their contribution was largely silenced. However, this silence is a form of history. Using Ricardo Palma’s Tradiciones peruanas, a contemporary text that was influential in defining Peruvian national identity, this paper addresses the role that literature plays in creating these silences as it relates to those who do not fit neatly into literature’s often binary structure. It also utilizes photographs as a mediator between history and literature, and argues that photographs can serve as a type of text that can discuss what literature often silences. The silent spaces that Chinese Peruvians occupied require creative exploration and a willingness to move outside of and across the boundaries set by past historical texts.
