The Rarefied Air of the Modern examines technology, modern
identity, and history-making in Peru by telling the story of the
surprising success of Peruvian pilots in European aviation
competitions in 1910, and how their achievements generated great
optimism that this new technology could lift the country out of its
self-perceived backwardness. Though poor infrastructure, economic
woes, a dearth of technical expertise, and a ghastly number of
pilot deaths slowed the project after the first flights over Lima
in 1911, the image of intrepid Peruvian pilots inspired a new sense
of national possibility. Airplanes seemed to embody not just
technological progress but enlightened rationality, capitalist
enterprise, and nation-state aggrandizement. By 1928, three
commercial lines were transporting passengers, mail, and
merchandise from Lima to other parts of the country and South
America. This exploration of the fitful development of Peruvian
aviation illuminates how a Eurocentric modernizing vision has
served as a powerful organizing force in regions with ambivalent
relationships to the West. More broadly, it underscores the
important role that technology plays in larger, complex historical
processes. Even as politicians, businessmen, military officials,
journalists, and ruling oligarchs felt a special kinship with
Peru's aviation project, diverse socioeconomic groups engaged
aviation to challenge power asymmetries and historical silences
rooted in Peru's postcolonial past. Most observers at the time
considered airplanes a "universal" technology that performed the
same function in Europe, the United States, and Peru. In reality,
how Peruvians mobilized and understood airplanes reflected
culturally specific values and historical concerns.
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