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Patria, Criollos and Blacks: Imagining the Nation in the Mercurio peruano, 17911795*
Mariselle Melendez

In Constructing the Criollo Archive, Antony Higgins (2000) called attention to the relevance of examining the seldom-studied eighteenth-century Latin American discursive production in order to better understand the dynamic process of national and identity construction as it developed in the late colonial period. The emergence of theoretical and epistemological discourses of criollo subjectivity, guided by a distinctive political agenda, helped develop processes of the accumulation and presentation of knowledge about the cultures, geography, and economy of the different American regions (Higgins 2000, 6).1 He used the concept of criollo archive to refer to the constitution of a network of intellectuals and institutional formations engaged in the articulation of authoritative texts and statements about the natural and cultural histories of their own countries (Higgins 2000, 9). According to him, the interest of many of these criollos in highlighting the distinctiveness and, in some cases, superiority of their cultures and countries in regard to Europe was an important aspect present in their theoretical articulations.2 In this article, I explore how this process took place within one of the most influential cultural and political avenues utilized by Peruvian Creole intellectuals in the late colonial period: the newspaper Mercurio peruano, published in Lima between 1791 and 1795.3 The discussion centers on the function of this specific newspaper as a material space of knowledge and a crucial locus of enunciation. I examine the Creole articulation of the image of the Peruvian nation and the manner in which Creoles envisioned their role as useful citizens and intellectuals. Finally, the last part of the article is devoted to the role that the black population in Lima had within the national project articulated by the contributors in their newspaper articles. I contend that in this discursive attempt to theorize the nation, gender deviance and race
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign *I would like to thank Anne Abbott (University of Illinois) and Elena Delgado (University of Illinois) for their insightful comments on this article. ISSN 1060-9164 (print)/ISSN 1466-1802 (online) # 2006 Taylor & Francis on behalf of CLAR DOI: 10.1080/10609160600958660

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became for these particular Creole intellectuals two destabilizing elements that threatened Perus social order and progress.4 The Newspaper as a Material Space of Knowledge The Mercurio peruano was founded by the Sociedad Academica de Amantes del Pas, a group of young intellectual Creoles mainly from Lima, whose expertise ranged from medicine to commerce, science, geography, religion, literature and law.5 The choice of name for both the Academic Society and the newspaper illustrated two vital aspects of the nature of the founders and the role of this particular newspaper within the Peruvian nation. To distinguish themselves from the similarly named Economic mica de Amigos del Pas) that Society of Friends of the Country (Sociedad Econo functioned in Spain at the time, the Peruvians decided to identify themselves as the Academic Society of Lovers of the Country. With this name, they emphasized their ambitious aim to educate their country as well as their will to demonstrate their mica was defined as passionate love for it.6 In the eighteenth century, the word acade ` ` a group of personas eruditas, que se dedica[ban] a el estudio de las buenas letras, y a 7 ` tratar y conferir lo que conduce a su mayor ilustracion. This aspect was evident in the rest of the newspapers title which read: Mercurio Peruano de Historia, Literatura, y Noticias publicas. The word mercurio was also chosen due to its association with the god Mercury, known throughout the Roman tradition as the God of Commerce. In the realm of allegory, Mercury also personified Eloquence and Reason, the qualities of a teacher.8 The founders obviously perceived themselves as spokesmen for their native country as well as the chosen few in charge of educating not only their homeland, but also the rest of the world. According to them, foreigners had erroneous ideas about the nature of Peru and its inhabitants. Eloquence and reason, two idiosyncratic principles of the Enlightenment, would characterize their discursive approach with regard to Perus past, present and future. Jacinto Calero y Moreira, author of the prospectus that accompanied the first issue of the Mercurio peruano, clearly explained how the newspaper constituted a patriotic duty aiming to situate Peru on the map of universal history:
La escasez de noticias, que tenemos del pais mismo, que habitamos, y del interno; y los ningunos vehiculos, que se proporcionan para hacer cundir en el Orbe Literario nuestras nociones, son las causas de donde nace, que en un reyno como el Peruano, tan favorecido de la naturaleza en la benignidad del Clima, y en la opulencia del Suelo, apenas ocupe un lugar muy reducido en el quadro del Universo que nos trazan los Historiadores. El reparo de esta falta es el objeto primitivo del Mercurio.9

Calero y Moreira envisioned the newspaper as an archive of history and philosophy, similar to the role that the temples in Egypt and the porticos in Athens played in the Archivos de la Historia, y la Filosofia (Vol. 1, no. 1, 1791).10 The Mercurio would cover every aspect of Peruvian national life: commerce, art, agriculture, cultural practices, education, architecture, astronomy, science, literature, politics and many

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other integral elements of their society. This production of knowledge, according to Calero y Moreira, was the task undertaken by this determined group of patriots: Esta ` es la obra, a la que se disponen unos hombres estudiosos, y verdaderos amantes de la Patria (Vol. 1, no. 1, 1791). As another member of the Academic Society of Lovers of the Country stated, the main objective of their meditations and efforts was the ` ` usefulness provided to their native country and nation (ser util a la Patria y a la Nacion) (Vol. 1, no. 7, 1791, 52). A crucial goal for the founders of the newspaper was to depart from news events of other parts of the world and instead focus primarily upon news of their own homeland: que mas nos interesa el saber lo que pasa en nuestra Nacion, que lo que ` ocupa al Canadense, al Lapon, o al musulmano (Vol. 1, no. 1, 1791). Special attention would be given to that which was deemed useful for the country in terms of the production and dissemination of knowledge. As lovers of public enlightenment (amantes de la ilustracion publica), the contributors to the Mercurio supposedly addressed all Peruvians, including the limen for whom learning and education had as, always been important aspects of their lives.11 It was, after all as the author expressed, el amor Nacional, la pureza, la Fidelidad, y la constancia [que son] las guias de mis pasos, y caracteristicas del MERCURIO PERUANO (Vol. 1, no. 1, 1791). There was clear evidence of an idealistic sense of marriage/union in his exhortation of national love. The female characteristics of purity (pureza) and faithfulness (fidelidad) reiterated the idea of a national union between all members of the society, who would unite in marriage through their unconditional love for their country. A noticeable difference that emerged from Calero y Moreiras statements about Creole identity construction and those articulated prior to the eighteenth century was the enunciation of an identity based on a clear patriotic attitude. The concept of the nation utilized by Calero y Moreira in the prospectus was endowed with political connotations that aimed to set Peru, and especially Lima, apart from the rest of the world. The nation was no longer perceived as only a place of origin or an ethnic entity n, as it had been prior to the Enlightenment. Nacio until the early eighteenth century, referred to lugar de Nacimiento or la coleccion de los habitadores en alguna Provincia, Pais o Reino.12 In the case of the Americas, it also pertained to el grupo familiar extenso o social-regional con fuertes rasgos de unidad racial, cultural y lingustica, muchas veces coincidente con el concepto de casta, y casi siempre identificable por la aceptacion comun de una dinasta fundadora (Mazzotti 2000, 144). For the members of the Academic Society, the nation had now become the patria, the country for which citizens needed to express their sacrifice and love.13 Their countrys history and culture would become part of a reappraisal project that would unveil Peru to the rest of the world and present it as a self-sufficient nation with the capabilities and resources to achieve progress on its own.14 Two important ideas emerge when trying to understand the intellectual project that these Creoles articulated in their newspaper. First, they envisioned themselves as a privileged sector of the population, doubtlessly devoted to their nation and without whom their country would not be able to achieve progress and intellectual

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prominence. Similar to the pagan god Mercury, they saw themselves as the conveyors of eloquence and reason and, as a result, the producers of knowledge. This idea became evident in an article published in January 1791 entitled Historia de la Sociedad de Amantes del Pas, y principios del Mercurio Peruano. The anonymous author stated that Lima would be a better and happier society if there were more intellectuals like the members of the Academic society: Patrias de tantos doctos, tu ` Poblacion seria feliz, si a la tertulia de los Jovenes Filarmonicos anadiesen algunas otras los muchos sabios que te iluminan (Vol. 1, no. 7, 1791, 50). A group that could expand ideas in tertulias like the ones in which they participated was, according to the author of the newspaper article, best able to represent their society. It was their dedication and national love (nuestra dedicacion y amor nacional) that made them genuine lovers of the country (amantes del pas) (Vol. 1, no. 7, 1791, 50). The second idea that emerged from many of the articles published by the Academic Society was an image of Lima as the place that best embodied the finest qualities necessary to help Peru become a better nation. In the articles, Lima became the patria as well as the nation, and as a result also became the locus of knowledge. It is interesting to note how the word patria seemed to oscillate so often between Peru and Lima. This urban conception of Peru was manifested in comments such as: Ah Lima! Si conocieras la dulzura que trahe consigo la union de una tertulia bien combinada, que lejos estuvieran de ti la division y el tumulto. . . . Patria de tantos doctos (Vol. 1, no. 7, 1791, 50); or in phrases such as Una Ciudad como esta, tan llena de ciencia y patriotismo no podia menos que exforzar los debil principios de nuestra empresa (Vol. 1, no. 7, 1791, 51). Lima thus epitomized what Angel Rama (1984, 25, 30) has referred to as la ciudad letrada, and the members of the Academic Society became likewise the new disenadores de modelos culturales or letrados. While these letrados were not necessarily the owners of political power, they were, nevertheless, the owners and bearers of an epistemological power that was crucial to what they perceived as the progress of the nation.15 In the aforementioned statements, one can perceive what Macera has termed the conciencia singular del criollo based mainly on the notion that el pas tiene una realidad social e historica propia de la cual es representante y titular el nacido en la tierra (Macera 1955, 39 40). The contributors to the Mercurio peruano wanted to produce a different type of city and by extension, country, not managed by administrators, but by intellectuals who truly knew and loved their country. These criollos became the new columns for the architectural body of the native country as well symbols of national pride (orgullo nacional) (Vol. 2, no. 56, 1791, 2034). This idea was also reiterated in two stanzas published as part of an article based on the history of the Royal University of San Marcos de Lima.16 The stanzas belonged to Canto Seven of Lima fundada o conquista del Peru by Pedro de Peralta Barnuevo:
Mientras los que adquirirlo ahora merecen, En sus Posteros fueren atendidos; ` Y a los que Lima pueblan y engrandecen,

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Del justo premio fueren mantenidos. Su Imperio durara: que nunca crecen Laureles del Olimpo no asistidos, Y seran ideas no oportunas La fabrica querer sin las Colunas. (Vol. 2, no. 56, 1791, 203 4)

211

As the poem illustrates, Limas recognition as a center of intellectual power resided solely on the discursive participation of its Creole citizens who, as its columns, supported and propagated the prestige of their nation. As a result, their newspaper would constitute the material space from which to articulate coherent social and cultural projects that would enable Peru to achieve intellectual progress.17 In Search of Prestige and Recognition: Lima as the Blessed City At this juncture, one important issue that should be addressed is the general image of Lima and Peru constructed by these intellectuals. At the end of the eighteenth century, and in the midst of the politics of centralization imposed by the Bourbons, what made their country such an extraordinary place? What kind of representation did these ingenios americanos, as they referred to themselves, want to export to the rest of the world?18 These questions are entertained in the first article published in the Mercurio peruano entitled Idea general del Peru. The article, written by the founding members of the Academic Society, responded to the perceived need to confront and eradicate the erroneous image that many foreign authors had disseminated about Peru. Stating that such texts were based on fallacious and erroneous arguments (paralogismos), they alerted readers to take note of Peruvians such as the Inca Garcilaso as well as unique foreign authors such as Antonio de Ulloa, who had praised Peru for its magnificent culture and history. They made clear that Antonio de Ulloa, in his books Viaje a la America and Entretenimientos americanos, was the first Spaniard to publish positive and well-conceived notions about Peru. The article briefly commented on the countrys racial constitution, geography, commerce, navigation and natural history, concluding with what the authors considered to be a major goal and preoccupation with regard to the true character of Peru: education. The authors emphasized that la ilustracion es general en el Peru, tanto por la natural agudeza y penetracion de sus habitadores nativos, quanto por su adhesion al estudio (Vol. 1, no. 1, 1791, 7), and added that el buen gusto, la urbanidad y el dulce trato son prendas hereditarias de todo Peruano (Vol. 1, no. 1, 1791, 7). The natural inclination of Peruvian citizens toward erudition can also be noticed, according to the founding members of the Academic Society, within the writings of stellar figures such as Antonio de la Calancha, Doctor Montalvo, Pedro Peralta y Barnuevo and other escritores no menos ilustres who wrote with discernment and understanding about the countrys history, and especially about Limas prominence (Vol. 1, no. 10, 1791, 94). According to another newspaper article, Limas achievements and perfection made it superior to Madrid; it was a blessed city whose citizens loved it por principios de justicias, por natural propension (Vol. 1,

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no. 10, 1791, 97).19 These comments obviously responded to the general manner in which the Americas were viewed by Europeans in the eighteenth century*namely as backward territories lacking intellectual, scientific and historical achievement.20 As Jorge Canizares-Esguerra (2001, 8) explains, this conception gave birth to a patriotic epistemology that stressed the limited ability of outsiders ever to comprehend the history of America and its peoples. It was in this sense that the Mercurio peruano became a repository of knowledge, or as one contributor suggested, part of an intellectual tradition that along with other documents found in the universities could form una Bibliotheca de no pequena consideracion (Vol. 2, no. 56, 1791, 203). According to many contributors to the Mercurio peruano, education brought cultural and intellectual knowledge, which in turn brought prestige and recognition. A key element that would enable the rest of the world to understand the countrys amazing history was the monuments and texts from the Inca tradition. In the newspaper article, Idea general de los monumentos del Antiguo Peru, e introducion a su Estudio, drafted by the founding members of the Academic Society of Lovers of the Country, the authors argued for the importance of revisiting the study of quipus. Although according to the contributors most of the quipus had been lost or reduced to dust, it remained paramount to seek out rural areas where they were still being used in matters of agriculture in order to complete el imperfecto retrato que nos trazo Garcilaso de su antiguo imperio (Vol. 1, no. 56, 1791, 202).21 Along with the quipus, indigenous monuments like obelisks and statues, musical instruments, native dances, science, astronomy and the study of Quechua language were thought to be part of a process of archival construction that would provide a better picture of a preColumbian past that, according to the authors, had remained in obscurity.22 However, the founding members of the Academy were fully aware of the magnitude and difficulties involved in such a task, mainly due to the destruction many ancient artifacts suffered during the Spanish Conquest. They encouraged other Academic Society members to engage in the process of categorizing, reconstructing, interpreting and explaining the particularities of their native country. Gender Deviance and Social Disorder: The Black Population in Lima The founding members of the Academy urged the contributors to bear in mind when publishing newspaper articles the common good of the population and the country in general: que el bien general, el bien del reyno, el bien de la Capital, ha sido el fundamento, el enlace, y el objeto unico de la Sociedad de Amantes del Pais (Vol. 2, no. 43, 1791, 76). It is from this perspective that the contributors felt responsible to discuss any negative elements that could damage Perus integrity as a civilized nation. As had been a pattern in colonial times, racial inferiority and gender deviance would again be considered dangerous signs of social disorder. There were very few negative aspects perceived by the contributors of the Mercurio peruano in their society. However, one frequently mentioned problem was the cultural and gender practices exercised by blacks in the city of Lima. On this matter

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there were two interesting articles published in 1791, entitled respectively Idea de las Congregaciones Publicas de los Negros Bozales and Carta sobre los maricones. In these articles, the contributors presented the African population in Lima as an emblem of disorder and a dubious group due to their lack of education. The authors claimed that the relevance of these sorts of news articles lay in their ability to help the public understand their countrys history por comparacion al conocimiento y utilidad de nosotros mismos (Vol. 2, no. 49, 1791, 125). The relevance of these articles must be considered within the historical context from which they emerged. While most of the articles published in the Mercurio peruano highlighted the greatness of Peru and its potential to achieve economic and intellectual progress, there were nevertheless a good number of essays that dealt exclusively with negative aspects of the society that, according to the contributors of the newspaper, needed to be corrected. In these particular articles, blacks, mulattos and other castes of African descent were always blamed for Perus social disorder and decay.23 Problems such as congenital malformations, deviant sexuality, lack of education and primitive behavior were discussed by using as examples these sectors of the population.24 Black women as well as men were scrutinized from a moral, social and cultural perspective.25 As Elizabeth Anne Kuznesof (1995, 156) explains the constant and minute legislation related to race in every aspect of colonial like, in every community and within every guild, demonstrates the extreme level of social anxiety related to race-related privilege and discrimination. At a time when a great sector of the population in Lima consisted of black and other castas, it would have been unthinkable for an Academic Society so engaged in the future of its country to ignore this sector of the population.26 The Societys members were so aware of this fact that the newspaper published tables with statistics that illustrated the racial constitution of the population. The table was published in the first volume of the Mercurio and was compiled by Joseph Maria de Egana in 1790. It showed that of the 47,796 inhabitants that populated the city of Lima outside the convent, 17,215 were Spaniards, 3,912 Indians and 4,631 mestizos, while the rest of the population (22,038) was composed of blacks and other castes of African descent. Since the sixteenth century, this increased racial visibility or physical presence had greatly worried colonial authorities who prohibited the gathering of more than ten black people in public spaces under threat of punishment. Eventually they were allowed to meet in circumscribed spaces such as the cofradas to celebrate religious 27 and other cultural ceremonies. Obviously, these specific gathering places were selected by the colonial authorities themselves to control cultural and social expressions that could become dangerous signs of disorder (Browser 1974, 1567). In the Libro Primero, Ttulo IV, Ley XXV of the Leyes de Indias, this aim of controlling blacks and circumscribing them to particular spaces became evident when the king ordered that no se funden Cofradias sin Licencia del rey, ni se junten sin asistencia del Prelado de la Casa y Ministros Reales . . . y si se confirmaren o aprobaren, no se puedan juntar ni hazer Cabildo ni Ayuntamiento, sino es estando presente alguno de nuestros Ministros Reales. However, in the eighteenth century,

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blacks and other castes of African descent were a primordial part of the Peruvian economy, working as street salesmen and saleswomen, servants, painters, craftsmen and craftswomen, and in the mining sector. Through false documentation, some had even become surgeons. Reality dictated that the members of the Academic Society were forced to devote part of their newspaper to news related to this sector of the population. The first article in the Mercurio peruano, Idea de las Congregaciones Publicas, written by the founding members of the Academic Society, dealt with the types of activities that took place in the cofradas. It began with very condescending comments regarding the manner in which blacks had been historically treated in the Americas as a fardo de mercancia (Vol. 2, no. 48, 1791, 113). The authors clarified that their comments centered on the figure of the negro bozal; a group composed of criados rurales y domesticos who had internalized slavery as a constant within their lives. They also mentioned that in the cofradas in Lima one could also find negros criollos for whom religious practices had become an avenue to express cultural identity.28 Members of the Academic Society went on to describe the type of celebration that took place in their cofradas and, in particular, the feast of Corpus Christi. According to them, the spectacle was dominated by horribles ruidos estruendosos... alaridos y ademanes tan atroces and feroz entusiasmo (Vol. 2, no. 48, 1791, 117). The adjectives utilized in the description clearly point out the supposed animal nature of the negros bozales. The authors perceived their interpretation of the Corpus Christi as an insult to true religion and a sign of their inherent barbarism: estas escenas, nos dan una idea de la barbaridad con que haran sus acometidas marciales (Vol. 2, no. 48, 1791, 117). The contributors also focused on the celebratory dances performed inside the cofradas. After celebrating their meetings in a space where walls painted with the images of their African kings and idols were reminders of their ancestors and culture, they proceeded to engage in grotesque dances. According to the authors, these dances were characterized by griteria, bulla y desbarro and contorsiones ridculas ` that offended the good taste of the educated Creole observer: [estos] bayles a la ` verdad no tienen nada de agradable, ademas de ser chocantes a la delicadeza de nuestras costumbres (Vol. 2, no. 48, 1791, 122).29 The contributors established a clear difference between the enlightened criollo (nuestras costumbres) and the barbaric negro bozal, who lacked the refinement and sophistication of his observer.30 ` As they clearly stated, the dance parece indecente a quien cree que las acciones exteriores de los Bozales tengan las mismas trascendencias que las nuestras (Vol. 2, no. 48, 1791, 122). With regard to music, the observer concluded that blacks were more culturally backward than the Indians who were, in turn, more backward than the Spaniards.31 In this article, difference was viewed as a sign of decay and barbarism. What seems to have caused particular dismay to the observers was the manner in which cofradas were being transformed by the black population. By 1791, the system that had been created in the colonies in the sixteenth century to control religious expression within

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a particular space had become a space of cultural freedom and transculturation. It was a space that created anxiety as well as condemnation by those belonging to other social classes. Spanish authorities at the time were also very aware of such cultural transformations in the cofradas. Indeed, during the eighteenth century the Crown adopted a more vigilant attitude toward all kinds of meeting spaces attended by marginal sectors of the society, such as taverns, plazas and especially cofradas, due to the type of festivities that were taking place. As Pedro Viqueira Alban (1999 [1987], 105, 111) explains very well in his study of popular street culture in eighteenthcentury Mexico, the possibilities of social inversion served as a reminder for the Spanish authorities of how hierarchies were never absolute and as such [could be] moved despite the desperate attempts to establish an immutable order.32 In the case of the founding members of the Academic Society, the social and cultural empowerment blacks were enjoying in the cofradas was considered a sign of decay and disorder. The contributors to this article basically reproduced the stereotypical assumptions held at the time in regard to African and Afro-Hispanics in the Americas. According to these Creoles, disorder and barbarism marked the behavior of the black population in Lima, making them, as a result, unsuitable citizens of the nation. Even their treatment of women did not coincide with the values associated with civilized individuals. The African belief that a black man should not suffer because of the death of his wife, due to the hundreds of women still available to him, greatly repulsed the authors, who concluded that: Si en algo se conocen que son barbaros estos miserables Africanos, es en la adopcion de esta maxima iniqua. No piensan asi los hombres sensibles y justos (Vol. 2, no. 48, 1791, 123). This passage reiterates the idea that an unequivocal difference separated blacks (negros criollos and bozales) from the educated criollos. However, as difficult as it would have been to consider them part of the learned circles of the Peruvian nation, their visibility in the public sphere was enough cause for the members of the Academic Society to find the knowledge of the African inclinations and defects worthy of consideration. It was, after all, lo extrano de sus principios that set them apart from the rest of the population. The emphasis on the black as an epitome of disorder and deficiency was further developed in the letter entitled Carta sobre los maricones. In the eighteenth century, n a marico was defined as un hombre afeminado y cobarde, lo mismo que Marica.33 What seemed to be an exposition aimed at grappling with the idea of gender deviance and its permeation of all levels of society became a very specific discussion focused on deviant gender identity and inversion as it was associated with one particular racial group: blacks of African descent. The author, writing under the pseudonym of Filaletes, began his discourse with the notion that the social behavior of the maricones was a vergonzoso mal within the capital city of Lima. He was repulsed by the men that could be seen walking, dressing and acting like women (Vol. 3, no. 94, 1791, 230).34 Filaletes centered his views upon a prior personal experience, having attended a sarao as the guest of a friend. He was astounded at the manner in

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which black and mulatto men were dressed in such luxurious dresses and accessories, even dressing themselves like the tapadas.35 He was perplexed by the audacity of many of these men, who, ignoring the fact that they belonged within the realm of servitude and slavery, decided to create their own spaces of expression: Que es esto! Que en esta tierra hay tal clase de mugeres? (Vol. 3, no. 94, 1791, 232). His friend, in ` an attempt to calm him, explained: aqui no temen a nadie: y por eso estan adornados con todos los vestidos y galas del bello sexo; pero las tapadas que V. ve, como vienen de lexos se contentan con traer la cabeza matizada de jazmines y una mantilla, no despojandose del trage del hombre en lo restante (Vol. 3, no. 94, 1791, 232). Filaletes was not able to respond to this comment because at that precise moment the authorities arrived and took all the black men (Condesitas, Marquesitas y Senoritas) to jail.36 The newspaper article demonstrated how members of the Academic Society of Lovers of the Country perceived gender deviance. The persistent legibility of gender inversion caused anxiety and fear (Halperin 2002, 125). Filaletes was aghast that such a spectacle was occurring in the great city of Lima. He was baffled by the means by which blacks and mulattos were able to create a private space in which gender distinctions were blurred and freedom was temporarily achieved. Filaletes concluded his letter with a sign of repulsion and anxiety, considering the gender inversion of blacks and mulattos as a monstrous derangement: Tal pena es digna de locura tan monstruosa (Vol. 3, no. 94, 1791, 232). In response to Filaletes letter, the Mercurio peruano published another anonymous letter that also fiercely criticized this social evil. However, this letter began by stating that such deviant behavior had also been seen in countries such as Spain and other American territories. Making it a point to remark that this was not a particular defect of Peru, the author went on to maintain that what Filaletes had witnessed in Lima was a problem that only related to blacks and not to other racial groups. The letter stated: A esta Ciudad se han visto venir Negros de partida educados entre las barbaras y feroces costumbres de la Guinea, llenos de resabios afeminados, o mas propiamente verdaderos Maricones. Es preciso confesar que estos son tan raros y extraordinarios como los monstruos, los enanos, los hermafroditas (Vol. 4, no. 117, 1792, 119). Gender inversion was seen in this passage as a foreign depravation brought by African slaves to Lima. To elucidate that this defect affected only a small sector of the society (composed only of blacks) and that it did not constitute a more general problem, the author compared the maricones to monsters and other human beings that suffered from congenital malformations. The author argued that even with the limited number of these cases, understanding such abominations remained a social responsibility. Since ancient times, the monster had been considered a disruption of the natural order, encompassing notions of disorder, ambiguity, deviance and anomaly (Friedman 2000, 109). It is not surprising that the author decided to associate black maricones with monsters as a means to emphasize what was outside the norm. The conclusion was that such barbaric customs (costumbres salvages) were the result of the manner in which elite mothers and their wet nurses raised children. The

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mother was blamed for two reasons. First, her inclination toward mundane things, her inability to reason and her love for luxury transferred her weakness to her children. Second, when she did not spend time with her children, she was also criticized for allowing the wet nurse to spend too much time with them. The wet nurse was subsequently blamed for transferring all her bad habits to the child. This statement is particularly important because, as had been noted in a previous newspaper article, the majority of wet nurses in Lima were black or mulatto. We must remember that according to the anonymous author, gender inversion was an evil that pertained to Africa; it was a black evil. He contended that when limen left their as children to the care of their black servants, their children learned bad habits that were part of African human nature. As mentioned at the end of the article: Un nino abandonado en manos de una nutriz, o sea de su propia madre (la unica que cuida de su primera educacion), aprende por imitacion cuanto en ella mira (Vol. 4, no. 117, 1792, 121). This comment is extremely important because it suggested that gender deviance in Lima could in fact spread beyond black sectors of the population. It was therefore suggested that any white woman who used black women as nannies was also contributing to her childrens moral corruption. The letter concluded with a recommendation for resolving this vexatious dilemma and for eradicating this type of deviance from Lima. The suggestion was to follow the custom exercised in some parts of India,37 where children were transferred at the age of five or six to male relatives who took charge of their education until their time of marriage. This practice would avoid de esta suerte que el carino materno, y la costumbre transmitida por una reciproca ternura, debilite el espiritu, lo corrompa y lo afemine (Vol. 4, no. 117, 1792, 122). The letter contended that the cultural practices of the maricones could be banned from Lima as well as other parts of the ` world if education became a male responsibility: este exemplo deberia a lo menos inoderar los vicios que causa en la educacion el excesivo amor materno; y entonces se veran costumbres menos afeminadas, habria menos Maricones (Vol. 4, no. 117, 1792, 122). Clearly, within both letters, a reversal in gender identity was considered a contagious disease that propagated through contact with black sectors of the population. Directly and indirectly, the black population was viewed as the seminal locus of such social evil, a social abomination that opposed the ideal Peruvian nation members of the Academic Society of Lovers of the Country strove to articulate. Improper education was seen as the primary contributing factor to this social defect. The eradication of gender deviance, seen by both authors as an emblem of disorder, was paramount for setting in place an orderly society. As Judith Butler (1990, 128) reminds us, discrete gender, as it relates to the construction of identity, has served as a point of epistemic departure from which theory emerges and politics itself is shaped. As has been illustrated, the Mercurio peruano articles about the black population in Lima offer clear examples on how that process took place during the eighteenth century. Gender deviance, as shown by blacks in the cofradas, became the focus of the theoretical process of constructing the ideal image of Peru, and

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specifically Lima.38 The character of the Peruvian nation was shaped by a particular Creole vision in which race and gender identity became problematic elements of representation and unstable signs in the epistemological process of nationconstruction. Final Remarks: The Difference Within The newspaper articles discussed above offer a clear picture of the manner in which some intellectual criollos in Lima at the end of the eighteenth century imagined the Peruvian nation.39 The Mercurio peruano served as a discursive space of knowledge that enabled its contributors to delineate what they thought should be the cultural and intellectual character of the nation. The newspaper also worked as an archive of information and a source of reappraisal of past history. Their discussions of the fields of history, science, education and culture were perceived as significant information paramount to the dissemination of learning. Responsible citizens with a passion for the progress of their native land had to consider the Mercurio peruano the intellectual avenue in which to channel their opinions and concerns. Creole identity construction as articulated in the newspaper was intrinsically related to national concerns. The authors eagerness to educate their compatriots and intellectuals around the world guided their writings. In this sense, the social role of their newspaper consisted of delineating the true character of the country they loved. The incipient localism that, according to Bernard Lavalle (1993, 42), spawned in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as a result of the Spanish Crowns decision to eliminate the perpetuity of the encomiendas, acquired a clear nationalistic sentiment in the eighteenth century.40 The nation as a spiritual principle and a symbol of solidarity based on the pasts common glories as well as a common will in the present (Renan 1990, 19) was clearly present in these newspaper articles. The love for their country was at the core of these Creole intellectuals epistemological concerns. For this reason, they were anxious to make their country and their rational capabilities known to the rest of the world. However, what image of the country were these criollos attempting to construct in their newspaper, and how did they perceive their position in that cultural panorama? To a certain extent the image they constructed in the newspaper was ambiguous. On the one hand, we find the ideal country, endowed with all the necessary tools to achieve progress and global prestige. On the other, there still existed certain components of the society that did not represent examples of the civil society they strove to portray. The black and other groups of African descent blurred the welldelineated conception of motherland that criollos were desperately attempting to construct through their intellectual venues of expression. These criollos viewed themselves as superior citizens who knew their country and were able to determine the correct or incorrect path for the construction of the political and cultural framework they envisioned for their homeland. Within this framework, black cultural

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practices and gender tendencies were presented as anomalies: isolated barbaric acts that had to be contained so that civility could be achieved.41 It is, after all, the articulation of cultural difference, as Homi Bhabha (1990, 5) suggests, that problematizes the unity of the nation so desired by the agents involved in the process of nation formation. It is within this context that the nation as a discursive and cultural elaboration reveals its own contradictions and ambivalence (Bhabha 1990, 3). The perception of black, mulattos and other castes of African descent as unfit for the new cultural framework of the country was evident in one of the last newspaper articles published in the Mercurio peruano, in 1794. An anonymous member of the Academic Society clearly complained how the quality of the newspaper had degenerated, owing to mulattos, women and other less educated sectors of the society n ` having access to it: Amor patriotico, ilustracio publica, fomento a la Literatura, se hicieron unas palabras de moda, que no faltaban ya hasta de la boca de las mugeres, y de los mulatos Palanganas (Vol. 11, no. 379, 265, 1794). The access to knowledge by the marginalized sectors of the society (women and mulattos) was conceptualized in terms of decay and degeneration. It was also believed that something rude (chabacano) had made the Mercurio a degenerate son (hijo degenerado) who had fallen into a state of barbarism (Vol. 11, no. 379, 1794, 2656). Once again, women and blacks who transgressed the social and gender parameters assigned to their status as subordinated citizens were viewed as abject beings in constant need of vigilance and reform. It is in this spirit that the pursuit of progress and the construction of an educated nation seemed restricted to a very specific group of male individuals, mainly residents of Lima, who perceived themselves as different from the rest of the country. Reason, education and knowledge were the domain of those criollo intellectuals who proclaimed themselves the real lovers of Peru. In their newspaper articles, representation functioned as an instrument of power in the sense conveyed by John Beverley (1999, 1) when he explains that any representation of power always entails a process of determining which representations have cognitive authority or can secure hegemony, which do not have authority or are not hegemonic. In this context, race, gender and class, as perceived by the Academic Society of the Lovers of the Country, still constituted problematic aspects of the epistemological construction of their native land. These three elements blurred the clear social and cultural demarcations so sought by the members of the Society. In an attempt to highlight the singularities that set Peru apart from the rest of the world, the contributors to the newspaper unconsciously unveiled the fluidity and differences that were a profound part of their countrys history. Legible cultural and social practices like those performed in the cofradas served as visual reminders of the dangerous differences that resided in the heart of their beloved homeland.

 220 M. Melendez

Notes
1

Higgins makes this comment in reference to the Viceroyalty of New Mexico, which is the focus of his study. It is important to note that there was not a monolithic Creole point of view in regard to what constituted a particular nation because such articulations varied according to distinct geographical, historical, economic and cultural preoccupations. The same can be said about the manner in which the dissemination of knowledge about their societies and countries was expressed. As Karen Stolley (1996, 349) reminds us, the eighteenth century began to witness a growing emergence of local histories in which authors tended to identify closely with a particular region. On the diversity of Creoles articulation and dissemination of knowledge, see Canizares-Esguerra (2001), Mazzotti (2000) and Pagden (1987). The Mercurio was last published on a regular basis in August 1794 due to a lack of substantial subscribers needed to cover the high costs of publication. The newspaper was published twice weekly on Thursdays and Sundays. The last volume was published posthumously in 1795 by Fray Diego Cisneros, one of its honorary members who decided to publish the last two issues of the newspaper. Following Walter Mignolo (1993, 127), I consider the notion of theory to be an instrument for constructing knowledge and not necessarily as a pure instrument of understanding. Also, in the context of this article, race is considered a social construct, an idea that encompasses not only visible characteristics (skin, color, hair), but also behavior, occupation, moral and intellectual characteristics, religion and social hierarchy. In colonial times, the concepts of casta , purity of blood, raza (lineage), and especially calidad included some of the attributes to which we refer today as race. For a detailed discussion on some of these concepts as they were dened in colonial times, see Carrera (2003). The Mercurio peruano was indeed the rst newspaper founded by Peruvian natives. The other three newspapers that appeared before or during the times of the Mercurio were all founded by Spaniards. E.g., La Gazeta de Lima (1715) was published by the Spanish government, Diario de Lima (1790 1792) was founded by the Spanish pedagogue Jayme Bauzate y Mesa, and the conservative newspaper El Semanario crtico (1791) was established by the Spanish friar Antonio Olavarrieta. It is difcult to nd the real name of some of the contributors of the Mercurio peruano as many of them used pseudonyms in order to prevent censorship and persecution. In many instances, the articles were published with no name at all. In an anonymous article published on 23 January 1791, the newspaper contributor explained that Academia Filarmonica was the rst name that the members of the Academic Society chose to refer to their group. He explained that it was their unconditional love for their country that made them change their mica later became the founders of Mercurio name. The founding members of the Sociedad Acade peruano. These founders, according to the anonymous author, were Hermagoras (Jose L. Egana and president of the Academic Society), Aristio (Jose Hipolito Unanue, the Secretary), Hesperiophilo (Jose Rossi y Rub) and Homotimo (Demetrio Guasque). Cefalio (Jose Baqujano), Theaganes (Tomas Mendes) and Archidamo (Diego Cisneros) were also three important members of the Society. According to Manuel de Mendiburu (1874, 8:158), of the thirty academicians that belonged to the Academic Society, twenty-one were from Lima. All members of the Academic Society became active contributors to the newspaper. The founding members often published essays as a collective group about issues that they deemed important to Perus future progress. Other important contributors to the newspaper were Pedro Bravo de Lagunas, Acignio Sartoc and Joseph Ignacio Lequanda. For biographical information on some of these contributors, see Mendiburu (1874); see also Miro Quesada Laos (1957, 52 55) for a list of the different pseudonyms used by some of the contributors. The Academy was founded in 1790. During the eighteenth century in Europe, these types of societies were established in urban centers such as Madrid, Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

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See Diccionario de autoridades (1990, 33). For a more complete denition, see the Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (Hall 1974, 207). All quotes from the Mercurio peruano come from the facsimile edition published by the Biblioteca Nacional del Peru in 1964. In this article, I will include the volume, number, year and page number in which the newspaper article was published. Pages in the prospectus are not numbered. When citing from the prospectus, I will include just the volume, number and year in which it was published. ` Calero y Moreira explains: Plegue a mi fortuna, y a la de mi Patria, que mis amables Conciudadanas se valgan de la occasion del Mercurio, para abonar la verdad de mis expresiones; y hagan ver, que no hay materia, por elevada que sea, que no entre en el Sistema de sus meditaciones, y aun en el de su acrisolado Criterio (Vol. 1, no. 1, 1791). It is important to note that women appear among the list of subscribers published in the newspaper from the beginning to the end of its circulation. Due to the low rate of literacy among the Peruvian population at the time, the newspaper was really addressed to a select group of literate people. As Anbal Gonzalez (1993, 16) reminds us: These early papers would hardly t our current concept of a mass medium: they were printed with great difculty, were expensive to buy, and consequently had limited circulation. See Diccionario de autoridades (1990, 644). Pablo Macera considers the years of publication of the Mercurio peruano as an important ideological period in the process of developing a Peruvian national consciousness. According to Macera (1955, 16), it was la coherencia ideologica entre todos sus miembros that made possible an amplication of the criollismo nacional already seen in intellectuals such as Bravo de Lagunas, Victorino Montero and Jose Baqujano in the rst half of the eighteenth century. One cannot deny the inuence that the Bourbon reforms had on the political views expressed by the contributors of the Mercurio peruano. Within this context, it is important to note Maceras observation with regard to the economic circumstances in the eighteenth century that played an important role in the emergence of Creole discourses of discontent; e.g., he mentions that it is in this century that Peru began to witness a secondary position in the predominio economico de Sur America because of the preference by the authorities in Charcas and Chile to use Buenos Aires as a provider of consumer goods (Macera 1955, 21 22). Also, the earthquake that hit Lima in 1687 badly affected the status of Peru as a wheat producer to the benet of Chile, which offered cheaper prices. Peru itself had to import grain from Chile. According to Macera (1955, 32), for some Creoles these events were signs of Perus decadence as a center of economic power and prompted them to blame the Spanish authorities for such decay. It was at this particular juncture that Creoles began to popularize the idea that solo quienes eran nacidos en la tierra, podran comprender sus problemas, resulting in a consciencia singular del criollo dentro de la estructura social y poltica peruana (Macera 1955, 39). Of course, the Bourbon reforms and their aim to restrain criollos from occupying any ofce were another crucial factor in the emergence of a Creole consciousness. For an excellent discussion on the manner in which the Bourbon reforms challenged the Creole status and position in the Americas, see Pagden (1987, 51 94); see also Fisher (2003) and Klaren (2000, 99 133). Rama (1984, 25), referring to the colonial period, dened la ciudad letrada as the anillo protector del poder y ejecutor de sus ordenes. He included among its members religious men, administrators, teachers, professionals and other intellectuals who managed the pen and occupied positions of power. Rama (1984, 41) explained that the ciudad letrada became a ciudad escrituraria when writing was perceived as the privilege of an intellectual minority. Writing, then, came to represent an imposition of knowledge and an art of thinking (Rama 1984, 41). Rama (1984, 30 31) argued that these letrados were intelectuales al servicio del poder. Borrowing Ramas denition, I refer to the members of the Academic Society as new

 222 M. Melendez
letrados who, although they did not necessarily enjoy political power, engaged in the construction of a new kind of ciudad letrada that was based on the production of knowledge and intellectual thinking. In the late eighteenth century, and as a result of the Bourbon reforms and the centralization of power that occurred, these criollos were being banned from positions of political power. This is why we perceive this sense of differentiation and singularity that they advocated in their newspaper. This particular article was written by the founding members of the Academic Society, who often published essays in the newspaper dealing with the natural history of the country and other cultural aspects of the society. The article concluded with the following phrase: Omitimos ` recordar los encarecidos elogios con que los Autores extrangeros celebran a nuestra Academia de San Marcos, y a los ingenios del Peru (Vol. 2, no. 56, 1791, 204). The Mercurio would become part of the creation of a new society, an idea that was also prevalent in other newspapers born in the eighteenth century in the Viceroyalties of Nueva Espana and Nueva Granada. As Claudia Rosas Lauro (1999, 371) states, one can perceive in many of them el deseo de modernizar los conocimientos y actualizar la cultura. One must remember that some scientists and explorers that visited South America in the late colonial period regarded positively the Mercurio peruano as a source of knowledge, as was the case of Alexander Humboldt, who deposited copies of the newspaper in the Imperial Library of Berlin (see Porras Barrenechea 1970, 12). This is another article written by the founders of the Academic Society and the Mercurio peruano as a group. It concluded with the following remarks: Felices nuestros sudores, feliz el ` Mercurio, y aun mas felices nosotros mismos si al n de algun tiempo se logra hacer conocer a Lima en aquellos terminos ventajosos que se merece. Con esta mira duplicamos el teson de nuestras tareas; y entre tanto dirigimos al Publico los votos mas fervorosos (Vol. 1, no. 10, 1791, 97). It is important to note that also in Lima, Spanish authors such as Esteban de Terralla y Landa (1792) in his famous work Lima por dentro y por fuera offered a very dark view of the moral and cultural decay that, according to him, was so prevalent in Lima at the time. As Julie Greer Johnson (1993, 138) notes, for Terralla y Landa, racial imbalance was the main contributing factor in Limas social decay and decline. The founding members strongly criticized the work of an Italian author and a Duchess from the Academy of Crusca, entitled Apologia de los Quipos . According to them, this text based on the Peruvian Letters of Madame Gragny offered an erroneous interpretation of the grammar and dictionary of the quipus . For a discussion of the manner in which indigenous cultures were mythologized by Creole intellectuals in the eighteenth century, see Pagden (1987), according to whom the degree of mythologization differed greatly between Mexico and Peru because in Peru the Indian population was far more numerous and more densely concentrated than it was in Mexico (Pagden 1987, 66). On the manner in which people of African descent were culturally and politically discriminated against in Spain and represented in legal documents and literary works since the sixteenth century, see Fra Molinero (2000). In the eighteenth century, according to the Diccionario de autoridades , the word casta was used to refer to Generacion y linage que viene de Padres conocidos. It was also used to connote ` origin: Metaphoricamente se llaman todas las cosas que descienden, o proceden de algun ` principio. Because of its relationship with linage, it was also associated with genero, classe o condicion (Diccionario de autoridades 1990, 410). Websters Universal Dictionary of the English Language (1940 edn) states that the name casta was given rst by the Portuguese to the several classes into which society [was] divided, with xed occupations, which have come down from the earliest ages. Elizabeth Ann Kuznesof (1995, 167) suggests that implicitly the designation of

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casta was intended for all of those who might possibly have any black blood, and therefore, be corrupted or demeaned. For a more recent discussion of the complexities of the concept of casta in regard to racial and social categorization, see Carrera (2003). On the issue of casta , identity and social stratication, see also Katzew (1996). If certain sectors of the indigenous population were praised because of their connection to the Inca past, blacks were always viewed in the newspaper as abject citizens in constant need of vigilance and reform. For a discussion of some of the newspaper articles that deal exclusively with black women, see Melendez (2002, 175 96). I also discuss these articles in my book-inprogress: Monsters, martyrs, and dangerous women: The cultural economy of the female body in eighteenth-century Peru . It is said that in 1713, of the 28,000 people that lived in the city of Lima, 15,000 were blacks (see Delgado Aparicio 2000, 79 96). As Idelfonso Gutierrez Azopardo (2000, 77) explains, the establishment of cofradas betrays the fear of the colonial authorities who thought that diverse, marginal racial groups could band together to create a consciencia de grupo. As the author explains, cofradas were not exclusive to the Americas. They had been in existence since the eleventh century in Cataluna and Navarra. In the fteenth century, the Cofradas de Negros Libertos were very popular in Andaluca, Barcelona, Seville and Cadiz (Gutierrez Azopardo 2000, 69). These institutions, as Serge Gruzinski (1993, 241) reminds us, were conceived as the surest means of deepening the Christianization of the faithful (what the texts called the Christian governance) and of familiarizing them with the obligations, rituals and devotions of Catholicism. Also, in the early colonial period, brotherhoods or confraternities also functioned as guilds where arts and crafts were made, sold and sometimes preserved. However, by the seventeenth century they had become a place for the dissemination of the cult of saints, including the celebration of annual feasts (Vargas Ugarte 1961, 268 9). In Peru, during the eighteenth century, brotherhoods proliferated to the extent that they were being established without the ofcial permission of the king. As a result, the Crown urged colonial authorities to crack down on the illegal establishment of cofradas (Vargas Ugarte 1959, 268). On the history of the cofradas in the Viceroyalty of Peru, see Olinda (1981) and Tremoche Benites (1987). On the context of colonial Latin America in general, see Martnez Lopez-Canto (1998). Emilio Harth-Terre (1973, 19) mentions how in Lima the term negro criollo was frequently used in the baptismal acts of the churches. Bernard Lavalle (1993, 19) also mentions that the term criollo was used to refer to black slaves born in the Americas. It was a term used to differentiate them from the negros bozales, who came from Africa. Delgado Aparicio (2000, 84) mentions that in eighteenth-century Peru, the popular dance practiced by blacks and known as calenda was prohibited by the Spanish authorities because its positions and movements were considered lascivos y tildados de lujuriosos. This may be the dance that the contributors were describing in their article. According to the articles, it seems that other non-black sectors of the population were allowed to enter the cofradas . This negative view of blacks music as a cultural expression can be considered a sign of anxiety on the part of the white population who were witnessing the inuence of black music and dances in mainstream celebrations. According to Viqueira Alban (1999 [1987], 210), this attempt by Charles III to control any form of entertainment or social expression in public spaces was also taking place in Spain, where the king engaged in an ambitious program of urban reforms. Marica , as dened in the Diccionario de Autoridades (1990, 499), refers to el hombre afeminado y de pocos brios, que se dexa supeditar y manejar, aun de los que son inferiores. Because blacks here are not only dressing as women but behaving as such, I would rather use the term inversion instead of talking only about transvestism or effeminacy. David M. Halperin

 224 M. Melendez
(2002), in his study of pre-homosexual models of male sexual and gender deviance, considers inversion as one category used to dene deviant gender norms before the concept of homosexuality was born in 1869. According to Halperin, inversion, along with effeminacy, male friendship or male love, and sodomy were common terms to refer to these kinds of social practices. Inversion was considered the lack of normative masculinity shown in mans reversal of his gender identity affecting his personal demeanor and shaping his attitude, gestures, and manner of conducting himself (Halperin 2002, 124). His visibly mode of appearance and dress, his feminine style of self-presentation made him a deviant social type (Halperin 2002, 125). On the other hand, effeminacy in old European traditions was considered a symptom of excess such as being soft, pleasing women and deviating from masculine gender norms by choosing the soft option of love instead of the hard option of war (Halperin 2002, 110 11). For a detailed discussion of the genealogy of the modern discourses on homosexuality, see Halperin (2002). For a discussion of the problems encountered when trying to historically dene the origins of homosexuality, see Sedgwick (1990), who asserts that although talking about homosexuality prior to the nineteenth century would be risk[ing] anachronism, it is important to understand today how terms such as effeminacy, sodomy and inversion have co-existed in the modern concept of homosexuality (Sedgwick 1990, 16, 147). In the context of colonial Latin America, see Sigal (2003). The articles in Sigals collection, with the exception of that of Serge Gruzinski, despite presenting interesting cases involving gender deviance and effeminacy in indigenous and Iberian groups, do not make a distinction between the difference of the concept of homosexuality as it was created in the nineteenth century versus the early modern terms effeminacy, sodomy and pederasty. In fact, the term homosexuality is viewed in the majority of the essays as equivalent to sodomy, effeminacy and pederasty. This aspect is also apparent in the title of the collection: Infamous desire: Male homosexuality in colonial Latin America . Finally, in the context of the Iberian Peninsula, see Casanovas (1999, 157 92). Tapadas were women who dressed with saya and manto. A veil covered their face, leaving only one eye visible. Writers such as Carrio de la Vandera and Flora Tristan had erroneously considered this fashion style as unique to Lima. In reference to the tapadas , Mary Louise Pratt (1992, 167) observes: The costume, unique to Lima, was very striking and a favorite for illustrators, even as outsiders criticized it for its form-tting display and the horrifying absence of stays. However, as Raquel Chang-Rodrguez (1978, 57 58) explains, this kind of fashion statement, although very popular in Lima, was not particularly unique to that city. Luis Martn also observes that in 1592 the Spanish government banned Arab women in Granada from covering their faces with veils. As a result, the Moriscas adopted the Castilian manto and began to wear it, leaving one eye uncovered (Martn 1989, 301). From Granada, the fashion spread to and became very popular in Seville, and from there, it is assumed it was transferred to the Americas. Enrique Rodrguez Sols (1921, 126) also documents that las tapadas de medio ojo were also very popular in Madrid as the style was used by prostitutes and other women to execute acts considered immoral by the authorities. In her discussion of the different decrees imposed by the king to prohibit this type of fashion in Spain, Chang-Rodrguez (1978, 58) also mentions that many men dressed as tapadas to commit all kind of misdeeds without being recognized. The arrival of the colonial authorities at the festivity was described by the author in the following manner: llego el Alcalde con sus ministros, los que con bastante diligencia tomaron todas las salidas, y formando una sarta de Condecitas, Marquesitas, y Senoritas, hicieron un botin del refresco que estaba preparado, y los conduxeron a la carcel, en donde a sus Senoritas por aliviarles la cabeza, con gran prolixidad les quitaron su precioso pelo, aplicandoles al mismo tiempo el confortativo de una buena tostada (Vol. 3, no. 94, 1791, 232). The author of the article seems to applaud the appropriate manner in which these black men were punished by the authorities: rst, by being stripped of their hair to lighten their heads, and second, by exposing

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their heads to the re so their scalps could turn brown again (el confortativo de una buena tostada). It is interesting to note how in this example and in others offered earlier the contributors to the Mercurio peruano often looked to non-classic sources such as Egypt and India in order to validate key points. As late as the nineteenth century, in some Latin American countries, the cofradas epitomized spaces of racial and gender disorder for the intellectual sectors of the society. For a discussion of the manner in which cofradas served as spaces in which low sectors of the society found sexual and social expression, see Salessi (1995). Following Benedict Anderson (1990 [1983], 15), I consider here the process of imagining the nation as the discursive process of construction in which a nation is invented. Acording to Lavalle (1993), it would have been anachronistic during those centuries to perceive the criollos concerns about the encomiendas as endowed with nationalistic sentiment. In 1792, Esteban Terralla y Landa (1978, 21), in his famous poem Lima por dentro y fuera , also blamed blacks for Perus social and moral decay. He also viewed this sector of the population as a danger to the social order of the country: que vas viendo por la calle pocos blancos, muchos prietos,/siendo los prietos el blanco de la estimacion y aprecio;/que los negros son los amos y los blancos son los negros,/y que habra de llegar da que sean esclavos aquellos.

References
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