When Alejandro Toledo, Peru’s first president of indigenous descent, decided to hold part of his 2001 inauguration at Machu Picchu he justified his choice to citizens by categorizing the site as “the glory of our past.” Toledo’s comments reflected the power of Machu Picchu’s symbolism as a timeless representative of his country’s Incan heritage, but overlooked the fact that the site has yet to occupy more than a century in Peru’s nationalist narrative.
In addition, this nationalist perspective obscures the transnational processes that transformed Machu Picchu from an unknown ruin into a national icon. Since Hiram Bingham announced his finding of “the lost city of the Incas” in 1911, transnational figures have played a critical role in creating the international allure of Machu Picchu. Bingham’s exploits and the archeological history of Machu Picchu have long attracted scholarly and popular interest in the site. In contrast, very little is known about the dramatic transformation of Machu Picchu that followed Bingham’s initial expedition.
My dissertation will examine how a diverse cast of peasants, politicians, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals who often transcended the boundaries and bureaucratic arms of the state collaborated in the rise of Machu Picchu as a fundamental part in Peru’s turn towards an indigenous-influenced nationalism. In particular, I focus on how their activities both complimented and, at times, conflicted with the political struggle to construct an inclusive national project in Peru – as well as a global symbol of indigeneity. By tracing the modern invention of Machu Picchu, this dissertation will cast a new perspective on the intertwining of transnationalism and nationalism in the creation of national identity.
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