That obscure object of desire: Machu Picchu as myth and commodity
2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 17; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13569320802544237
ISSN1469-9575
Autores Tópico(s)Anthropological Studies and Insights
ResumoClick to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1 See also Trigger (1984 Trigger, Bruce G. 1984. Alternative Archaeologies: Nationalist, Colonialist, Imperialist. Man, 19(3): 355–70. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) for an incisive overview of the global politics of archaeology. 2 Anecdotally, it should be noted in confirmation of Anderson's schema that ‘Machu Picchu’ is one of the most popular names for Peruvian restaurants abroad. Both of the two cities I have lived in over the past five years – Providence, Rhode Island and Santiago, Chile – have featured a ‘Restaurante Machu Picchu.’ 3 See Oyuela-Caycedo (1994 Oyuela-Caycedo, Augusto, ed. 1994. History of Latin American Archaeology, Aldershot: Avebury. [Google Scholar]: 105–108). 4 Tello's excavations on the Paracas peninsula, where he found the remnants of a highly advanced 2,000 year old textile industry, are one example. 5 The proliferation continues to this day with films like The Motorcycle Diaries, popular travel books like Hugh Thomson's The White Rock, and especially publicity initiatives like the 2007 internet-based referendum on the New Seven Wonders of the World (see http://www.new7wonders.com/). This online referendum, notable for its lack of objective voting standards – nothing, for instance, prevented participants from casting multiple votes – and its undisguised promotional character, provides us with an emblematic instance of the contemporary market's effective channeling and exploitation of nationalistic sentiments regarding monuments. Participants were encouraged to vote for the relevant sites in their countries out of nationalistic pride – governments actually carried out elaborate propaganda campaigns to persuade their citizens to vote – even though the primary beneficiaries of the contest were to be the multinational corporations that control the tourist industry. The pretense that the election of a prominent national monument as one of the New Wonders would enhance the country's global prestige only thinly veiled the principal motive behind the contest: the immense profitability of its accompanying publicity campaigns for a handful of private interests. The motivations, interests, and values showcased in the New Seven Wonders referendum closely resemble those on display in the Discovery Channel's ‘Royal Tour’ series, discussed by Vich, in which presidents, prominent politicians, and monarchs assume the role of tour guide and reveal the marvels of their countries to the global viewing public. 6 In the same period in which he first publicized Machu Picchu, Bingham made several trips around South America and published numerous articles and books on South American politics and economics. In 1909, he published his diaries from a 1906–07 trip through Venezuela and Colombia, in which he directly and explicitly encouraged the US business community to pursue investment opportunities in these countries. His 1911 narrative Across South America covered more ground and indicated further potential in Peru and the countries of the Southern Cone. His 1908 broadside Possibilities of South American history and politics as a field for research exhorted the relevant academic disciplines to give greater attention to the production of knowledge about the United States's Southern neighbours. 7 See Gómez (2007 Gómez, Leila. 2007. Machu Picchu Reclamada: Viajes y Fotografías de Hiram Bingham, Abraham Guillén y Martín Chambi. Revista Iberoamericana, 73(220): 497–513. [Google Scholar]) for reproductions of some of these photographs. 8 For an astute reading of some appropriations of the Machu Picchu image among the Cuzco indigenistas, see Gómez (2007 Gómez, Leila. 2007. Machu Picchu Reclamada: Viajes y Fotografías de Hiram Bingham, Abraham Guillén y Martín Chambi. Revista Iberoamericana, 73(220): 497–513. [Google Scholar]). 9 Bingham came into some conflict with Uhle and some of the other archaeologists based in Lima. See ‘Bingham Answers Haenel: Discoverer of Inca City Denies He Used Germans’ Data' in the New York Times, 19 September 1916. 10 I refer, for instance, to Julio Tello's Introducción a la historia antigua del Perú (Lima, 1922) and Antiguo Perú (Lima, 1929), Max Uhle's Estudios sobre la historia incaica (Lima, 1969), Uriel García's Ciudad de los incas (Lima, 1922), and Luis Valcárcel's Valcárcel, Luis Eduardo. 1925. Del ayllu al imperio: la evolución político-social en el Perú antiguo y otros estudios, Lima: Garcilaso. [Google Scholar] Del ayllu al imperio (Lima, 1925 Valcárcel, Luis Eduardo. 1925. Del ayllu al imperio: la evolución político-social en el Perú antiguo y otros estudios, Lima: Garcilaso. [Google Scholar]) and Ruta cultural del Perú (Mexico, 1945). 11 See Bingham (2003: 29–108). 12 See Granado (2004: 92). 13 See MacCannell (1999: 91–107). 14 For a summary of the origins of the legal battle, see ‘Inca Show Pits Yale against Peru,’ New York Times, 1 February 2006. Under President Alejandro Toledo, Peru attempted to re-assert control over objects taken from Machu Picchu during Bingham's early expeditions. Bingham, when he removed the objects to New Haven, assured the Peruvian government they would be returned within twelve months, but most remain at Yale's Peabody Museum to this day. A preliminary agreement on the matter was signed by Peru's new president, Alan García, in September 2007, but the deal has not yet been finalized because of controversial stipulations that appear to allow Yale to remain in possession of a large portion of the material for the foreseeable future. Peru's former first lady, Eliane Karp-Toldedo, weighed in on the matter in the New York Times (‘The Lost Treasure of Machu Picchu,’ Op-Ed, 23 February 2008), attacking Yale's recalcitrance.
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