Popular culture, gender and national identity. The chola mob in the city of Cochabamba (1880-1947)

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the public presence of the cholas in the city of Cochabamba (Bolivia), and the representations that from different fields aroused from 1880 to 1946, in order to examine afterwards the connection between this urban, feminine and popular presence, with the development of peasant and popular markets in the city. The search outline and itinerary including the emergence of these markets, some festivities, the aesthetic of cholos as shown in photography, the economy of chicha and, finally, the different interpretations of the Heroínas de la Coronilla narratives, which ended up in Mother’s day celebration and in the establishment of the cholas as the symbolic mothers of the nation. Our main postulate is that the longed modernity arrived, ironically, promoted by popular masses, which were prominently shaped by a feminine influence.