Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ

by Dean, Carolyn

• ISBN13: 9780822323327
• ISBN10: 082232332X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Duke Univ Pr

Summary

InInka Bodies and the Body of ChristCarolyn Dean investigates the multiple meanings of the Roman Catholic feast of Corpus Christi as it was performed in the Andean city of Cuzco after the Spanish conquest. By concentrating on the erars"s paintings and its historical archives, Dean explores how the festival celebrated the victory of the Christian God over sin and death, the triumph of Christian orthodoxy over the imperial Inka patron (the Sun), and Spainrs"s conquest of Peruvian society. As Dean clearly illustrates, the central rite of the festival-the taking of the Eucharist-symbolized both the acceptance of Christ and the power of the colonizers over the colonized. The most remarkable of Andean celebrants were those who appeared costumed as the vanquished Inka kings of Perurs"s pagan past. Despite the subjugation of the indigenous population, Dean shows how these and other Andean nobles used the occasion of Corpus Christi as an opportunity to construct new identities throughtinkuy, a native term used to describe the conjoining of opposites. By mediating the chasms between the Andean region and Europe, pagans and Christians, and the past and the present, these Andean elites negotiated a new sense of themselves. Dean moves beyond the colonial period to examine how these hybrid forms of Inka identity are still evident in the festive life of modern Cuzco. Inka Bodies and the Body of Christoffers the first in-depth analysis of the culture and paintings of colonial Cuzco. This volume will be welcomed by historians of Peruvian culture, art, and politics. It will also interest those engaged in performance studies, religion, and postcolonial and Latin American studies.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	1	(6)
Corpus Christi Triumphant	7	(16)
The Body of Christ in Cuzco	23	(23)
An Ambivalent Triumph	46	(17)
Envisioning Corpus Christi	63	(34)
Inka Bodies	97	(25)
Inka (In)vestments	122	(38)
The Composite Inka	160	(19)
Choreographed Advocacy	179	(21)
The Inka Triumphant	200	(19)
Notes	219	(44)
Bibliography	263	(20)
Index	283