Nuancing Peruvian Orientalism through the lens of Southeast Asia, 1919–30

This article uses non-literary essays that appeared in the Peruvian press during the Oncenio period in Peru (1919–30) to nuance our understanding of Latin American Orientalism. Critical study of the extant material shows that there were at least three strands of Orientalism circulating among Peruvian readers, with the presence or absence of Asian communities in Peru and the larger history of Spanish imperialism and Spanish-language Orientalism acting as their conditions of possibility. While the large Chinese community in Peru triggered an Orientalist backlash akin to modern Anglo-French Orientalism, the absence of Southeast Asians in the country allowed for a more medieval-colonial Orientalism to persist, one that focused more on wonder for and exoticisation of Asian cultures. The exception would be the Philippines, which due to its previous history as a Spanish colony, was presented as a ‘modern’ country comparable to any in Latin America. Given that representations of Southeast Asia are often overlooked in the study of Latin American Orientalism—which in turn tends to focus on literary representations by writers from countries like Argentina or Mexico—this article fills these gaps and contributes to the global histories of Latin America and of Orientalism.