The historical distribution of power in Peru, characterized by segregation and oppression, changed drastically after its independence from Spain. Starting in the second half of the 19th century, the rigid social policies of the Colony gave way to ideas of tolerance, such as the indigenist movement of post-colonial Latin America. No longer considered enemies of the country, several minorities were gradually integrated in the Peruvian society, collaborating in the formation of a new national identity. This normalization was selective, however, and the new ideas of integration often involved a new and more pernicious control of the Peruvian nation. Central to this discourse is the one that the Peruvian mulatto writer Ricardo Palma presents in his Tradiciones (1864-1910), characterized by ambiguous representations of traditionally stigmatized individuals, such as Native Americans, African Americans, and women. Other groups, such as Creoles, Mestizos, or Mulattoes (like Palma), struggle to overcome their social boundaries in order to create a new set of identities built on idealized national models.
The prevailing tendency in much of the research written about this situation has been to focus almost exclusively on the situation of minorities within society, neglecting the role played by these groups in the construction of the Peruvian national identity. Moreover, it has failed to address the 19th century social and psychological struggle among minorities to be recognized within the newly formed nation. My research addresses these issues in Peruvian studies using the examples of Palma’s Tradiciones, with the aim of exploring the particularities of the post-colonial new configuration of nation, identity, and power.
