Resumo A pandemia do coronavírus expôs uma tendência mundial ao longo da história de culpar imigrantes pela propagação de epidemias. No Peru, os chineses sofreram preconceito racial durante crises de saúde pública anteriores. Surpreendentemente, a ideia de que os descendentes de chineses são “agentes de contágio” diminuiu significativamente durante a atual pandemia. Examinaremos aqui três grandes epidemias (febre amarela, peste bubônica e covid-19), a fim de demonstrar a atual mudança nas atitudes negativas em relação à comunidade chinesa. A recusa dos peruanos de adotar termos depreciativos (o “vírus chinês”) ou visar indivíduos de ascendência asiática é algo intrigante em tempos de completa disseminação de discurso xenofóbico no hemisfério ocidental.

Abstract The coronavirus pandemic has exposed a global tendency throughout history to blame immigrants for propagating epidemics. Chinese individuals were thus targeted during past public health crises in Peru, but during the current coronavirus pandemic racist notions painting people of Chinese descent as “agents of contagion” diminished significantly. Here we examine three major epidemics (yellow fever, the bubonic plague, and covid-19) to demonstrate the current and somewhat surprising shift in negative attitudes toward the Chinese community. Peruvians’ refusal to embrace derogatory terms (the “Chinese virus”) or target individuals of Asian descent constitutes an intriguing case at a moment when xenophobic discourse is rampant in the Western hemisphere.

Abstract The change in relationships with the victims of coronavirus is one of the most disturbing and least explored consequences of all the ways in which covid-19 has altered our lives over the last year. This essay examines the various strategies Peruvians have developed to compensate for the inability to attend funerals and burials in person due to government-imposed social distancing measures. The use of digital platforms, mainly social media, made it possible to recreate funeral rites and allowed the necessary grieving under adverse circumstances. Using a comparative approach, the essay concludes that it is necessary to erect a memorial to the victims of covid-19 as a way of raising public awareness, and that of future generations, about the need to prepare for an eventual future pandemic.

Resumen El cambio en la relación con las víctimas a causa del coronavirus es una de las consecuencias más perturbadoras y menos explorada de todos los aspectos entre los cuales la covid-19 ha alterado nuestras vidas en el último año. Este ensayo examina las estrategias que los peruanos han desarrollado para compensar la imposibilidad de participar en funerales y entierros debido a las medidas de distanciamiento social. La incorporación de plataformas digitales permitieron recrear rituales funerarios y permitir el duelo necesario en circunstancias adversas. El ensayo concluye que es necesario erigir un memorial a las víctimas de la covid-19 como una manera de concientizar a la población y futuras generaciones sobre la necesidad de preparación ante una eventual próxima pandemia.

ABSTRACT The characterization of non-professional healers as “quacks” or “impostors” has influenced much of how such actors have been perceived by public opinion and in academic research. As a result of this, a divide has emerged between professional physicians, on the one hand, and those who acquired their knowledge in a traditional and non-academic way, on the other. This work questions the alleged divide between these two groups in the health field in order to offer a more complex and richer picture of local practices in Peru. Based mainly on correspondence from the Faculty of Medicine in Lima and newspaper ads, we reconstructed the attempts made by medical authorities to contain and exclude healers of Asian, European, or local backgrounds, many of which failed. For this reason, we studied two specific devices designed to legitimate and monitor physicians trained professionally: degrees or diplomas and lists of graduates, both of which are predecessors to our current identification cards and databases.

RESUMEN La caracterización de sanadores no-titulados como “charlatanes” o “impostores” ha influido notablemente en cómo han sido percibidos por la opinión pública y en las investigaciones académicas. Se creó, entonces, una división entre los médicos profesionales y aquellos que adquirieron su conocimiento de modo tradicional y no-académico. Este artículo cuestiona la supuesta división entre dichos especialistas en el campo de la salud para ofrecer un cuadro más complejo y rico de prácticas locales a partir del caso peruano. A partir, sobre todo, de correspondencia de la Facultad de Medicina de Lima y de avisos en periódicos, reconstruimos la dinámica de las autoridades médicas en sus intentos, muchas veces infructuosos, de contener y excluir a sanadores de origen asiático, europeo o local. Para ello, estudiamos dos artefactos diseñados para legitimar y monitorear a los médicos formados profesionalmente: los títulos o diplomas y las listas de graduados, predecesores de nuestros modernos documentos de identidad y bases de datos.

ABSTRACT The characterization of non-professional healers as “quacks” or “impostors” has influenced much of how such actors have been perceived by public opinion and in academic research. As a result of this, a divide has emerged between professional physicians, on the one hand, and those who acquired their knowledge in a traditional and non-academic way, on the other. This work questions the alleged divide between these two groups in the health field in order to offer a more complex and richer picture of local practices in Peru. Based mainly on correspondence from the Faculty of Medicine in Lima and newspaper ads, we reconstructed the attempts made by medical authorities to contain and exclude healers of Asian, European, or local backgrounds, many of which failed. For this reason, we studied two specific devices designed to legitimate and monitor physicians trained professionally: degrees or diplomas and lists of graduates, both of which are predecessors to our current identification cards and databases.

RESUMEN La caracterización de sanadores no-titulados como “charlatanes” o “impostores” ha influido notablemente en cómo han sido percibidos por la opinión pública y en las investigaciones académicas. Se creó, entonces, una división entre los médicos profesionales y aquellos que adquirieron su conocimiento de modo tradicional y no-académico. Este artículo cuestiona la supuesta división entre dichos especialistas en el campo de la salud para ofrecer un cuadro más complejo y rico de prácticas locales a partir del caso peruano. A partir, sobre todo, de correspondencia de la Facultad de Medicina de Lima y de avisos en periódicos, reconstruimos la dinámica de las autoridades médicas en sus intentos, muchas veces infructuosos, de contener y excluir a sanadores de origen asiático, europeo o local. Para ello, estudiamos dos artefactos diseñados para legitimar y monitorear a los médicos formados profesionalmente: los títulos o diplomas y las listas de graduados, predecesores de nuestros modernos documentos de identidad y bases de datos.

RESUMEN El Barrio chino de Lima, el más antiguo de América Latina, fue objeto de una serie de conflictos y estereotipos determinados por la raza y la salud pública durante el cambio de siglo. Una alianza entre médicos y autoridades políticas hizo de este espacio un lugar que atentaba contra la salud pública y el proyecto modernizador, aun cuando un importante grupo de limeños -especialmente las clases populares de la ciudad-, encontraron en los médicos chinos y sus tratamientos una alternativa médica viable y a un precio accesible. Reexaminando al Barrio chino como un enclave sanitario, este ensayo ofrece una mirada distinta a la relación entre autoridades, médicos inmigrantes y pacientes, a partir de fuentes como canciones, caricaturas y descripciones de viajeros.

ABSTRACT Lima's Chinatown, the oldest in Latin America, was affected by a series of conflicts and stereotypes determined by race and public health at the turn of the century. An alliance between doctors and political authorities transformed this quarter into a place that jeopardized both public health and the modernization project, although a significant group of Limeños -especially the lower classes of the city-, found in Chinese doctors and their treatments a viable and affordable medical alternative. The article examines the Chinatown as a sanitary enclave in order to provide a different view of the relation among authorities, immigrant doctors, and patients, based on sources such as songs, caricatures, and travelers' descriptions.

RESUMO O Barrio chino de Lima, o mais antigo da América Latina, foi objeto de uma série de conflitos e estereótipos determinados pela raça e pela saúde pública durante a mudança de século. Uma parceria entre médicos e autoridades políticas fez desse espaço um lugar que atentava contra a saúde pública e contra o projeto modernizador, ainda quando um importante grupo de habitantes de Lima -especialmente de classes populares da cidade- encontrou nos médicos chineses e em seus tratamentos uma alternativa médica viável e a um preço acessível. Reexaminando o Barrio chino como um enclave sanitário, este ensaio oferece uma visão diferenciada na relação entre autoridades, médicos imigrantes e pacientes, a partir de fontes como músicas, caricaturas e descrições de viajantes.