Paulo Drinot (ed.), Peru in Theory (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), pp. viii + 259, £62.50, hb.
more careful methodologically and more perceptive as to some of the major contrasts within Peruvian cultural memory, which Vich tends to brush over. But what these books have in common is more striking than their differences. Both are optimistic, viewing the mediations of cultural memory as contributions towards a better (more empathetic, solidary, less discriminatory in Saona, more critical and politicised, in Vich) national community. Readers will not find, in either, a critical evaluation of cultural memory as a discourse particular to the current global and Peruvian context. Likewise, they both stop short of fully systematising tendencies within this production, or of engaging with the debate as to the pros and cons of its different forms. In addition, readers interested in cultural memory practices that were not produced nor circulated in Lima will have to turn to other studies (such as some of the essays in Milton’s volume and in No hay mañana sin ayer, cited above). Overall, these books are important contributions, but many questions remain to be answered (and, moreover, asked) about cultural memory in Peru today.