Oldal 42 [42]
THE MODERN PERU: WESTERN, INDIGENOUS OR MESTIZO
become part of Peruvian civilization in the context of the Western modern
world. This binding element is what he called the “Inca theocratic socialism”
and consisted of the despotism of the Inca rulers that made everything work
properly in their empire. The construction of a nation-State according to
Lorente should consider the ascendancy of indigenous leaders to ensure the
solidarity and social harmony that should be applied in contemporary Peru
for the creation of a modern society."
On his side, Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan stated that the independence of
1820-1826 was the founding milestone of modern Peru. Considering the pre¬
Hispanic and the colonial periods as not fundamental historical moments,
Paz Soldan traced the lines of development of Peru based on its incorporation
into the contemporary Western world after independence. Paz Soldan was
clear in identifying Peru with the Creole culture that created a modern state
during the guano export boom (1840-1880). Moreover, Paz Soldan identified
the nation with the state.!” Lima high society (and subsequent historians)
considered Paz Soldän’s version of Peruvian national history to be the most
appropriate to understand the country as a nation.
The great difficulty of nineteenth-century Peru in generating an inclusive
and egalitarian idea of its nation consisted in the intention of the hegemonic
social and political sectors to impose a Western model on a non-Western
society such as the nineteenth-century Peruvian society. Ihe republic in the
guano export boom period presented itselfasa modern and civilized country
in Western terms. In this project, Indians, Amazonians, and Afro-Peruvians
had no place. In a time when the country was seen as rich and modern,
historians showed the Indians as a hindrance on the road to progress.
Sebastiän Lorente did include native cultures in the history of the country,
but his intention was only to establish that Indians were capable of adapting
to the requirements ofa modern and Western civilization through education
and through their social subjection as it was supposed to have happened
in Inca times. Finally, the accepted version was that of Mariano Felipe Paz
Soldan, who showed that the real country was the one created by independence
thanks to the effort of the Creole elites from 1820 on. According to hegemonic
nineteenth-century historiography, the Peruvian identity had a Western
image in a country that was geographically and culturally diverse.
Sebastian Lorente: Historia de la civilizacién peruana, Lima, Imprenta Liberal, 1879, 5;
Sebastian Lorente: Escritos fundacionales de historia peruana, Lima, Fondo Editorial de la
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, 2005, 55-56.
Mariano Felipe Paz Soldän: Historia del Peru independiente, Lima, Imprenta de El Nacional;
Le Havre, Imprenta de Alfonso Lemale, 1868-1870. 2 tomos.
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