Luis Valcárcel’s life is a microcosm of Peru’s twentieth-century intellectual history. From his participation in the 1909 university-reform movement in Cuzco and the “Cuzco School” of indigenismo, through his political work during the Billinghurst regime in the 1910s, to his archaeological, ethnological, and academic work in Lima from the 1930s, Valcárcel has stood at the forefront of his generation. As director of Lima’s Archaeological Museum, founder of the Museum of Peruvian Culture, and professor at San Marcos, he gave form to archaeological and ethnological investigation and trained generations of students in research methodology. Indeed, most of the prominent social scientists in Peru today were either trained by him or by people who have worked with him. Collaborator and colleague to national and foreign scholars alike, friend to José Carlos Mariátegui and César Vallejo, friend and mentor to José Sabogal and José María Argüedas, Valcárcel has experienced and participated in the best, most innovative, and most creative of Peruvian intellectual life.
It is for all these reasons that his memoirs, edited by several researchers at the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, are such a welcome addition to the literature. Based on a series of taped conversations, and supplemented by references to Valcárcel’s sizable personal archive, this volume bears witness to the varied political, social, cultural, and personal experiences of its author-subject. Through his participation, he presents a window into the history of indigenismo, twentieth-century politics, and the development of the social sciences and the university system. His reminiscences reflect the richness of life in Cuzco at the turn of the century, and trace the roots of his indigenismo back to his experiences as a sensitive youth who grew up surrounded by the combined grandeur of Inca and colonial Spanish traditions.
Ironically, the book’s conversational tone is both an important strength and a central weakness. Not truly an autobiography, the volume does not present a unified interpretation of the author’s life, and it thus allows us a glance at “raw data” that have not been organized carefully to create a particular impression. At the same time, however, the broad-ranging conversational tone occasionally results in pages upon pages that are little more than the listing of famous names, while in other places the reader is left wishing for greater elaboration when certain substantive topics— debates about indigenismo, Vallejo’s reaction to the Spanish Civil War, the personalities or creative impulse of Argüedas or Sabogal—are mentioned. It is here that one wishes the editors had taken a more active role, cutting or expanding the commentary through guided questions or editing the manuscript.
Ultimately, while the book does not have a unity of argument or theme, it is a rich source on a variety of topics. The good geographical and name indexes should facilitate its use. In addition, the volume provides a close personal look t one of Peru’s most important intellectuals of this century. In both these main dimensions, it constitutes a valuable resource for modern Peruvianists.
