Better than Spaniards and Better than the Indians: The Politics and Perils of Andeans' Excelling in the ‘Ciudad Letrada’

The public lives of literate indigenous Andeans in late colonial Lima force scholars to rethink the meaning of the category “Indian,” in light of their intellectual and legal involvement in the world of letrados (the urban managers of law). While in such setting the spheres of Spanish and Indian activity became increasingly porous, Andeans grew keenly aware of early modern legal culture, the importance of writing, and partook in circuits of legal knowledge and social networking, thus becoming veritable colonial actors. This talk engages the paths of escribanos(notaries) of Indian origin as they accomplished the unexpected in a colonial society where perceived ethnic difference had real consequences. In the multiethnic environment of the Spanish Audiencia (high court) capital, however, such difference was simultaneously malleable and dangerous. This talk highlights the price Indians sometimes paid for excelling in the Spanish world.

Alcira Dueñas, Ohio State University, Newark, Donald L. Saunders Fellow.