He honors the glorious shadow of the Inca Empire as the foundation of the territory and the original people. The Hispanic Influence:
: The Instituto Riva-Agüero maintains extensive archives related to his work and the "Generation of 1900." peruanidad victor andres belaunde pdf
: He begins by acknowledging the tension between the Spanish and the Incan past. Unlike other thinkers who prioritized one over the other, Belaúnde argues that the Peruvian identity is born from their fusion. He honors the glorious shadow of the Inca
By the early 20th century, Peruvian society was deeply polarized. Intellectuals were divided between indigenistas (like José Carlos Mariátegui) who saw Indigenous revival as the core of national authenticity, and hispanistas (like José de la Riva-Agüero) who defended the Spanish colonial legacy as the source of order and Catholicism. Belaunde rejected both extremes. For him, Peru was neither purely pre-Columbian nor purely Spanish, but a new, unfinished reality—a mestizaje not merely of race but of cultures, values, and historical memories. By the early 20th century, Peruvian society was
: He warns against the uncritical adoption of foreign ideologies—what he calls "anatopismo"—suggesting that Peru must look to its own history and traditions for solutions.