LASA/EANLAS: Rethinking Trans-Pacific Ties: Asia and Latin America

Alcohol, Immigrants and Regional Identities. Cultural Exchanges between Asia and Mexico (1565-1815)

• In Event: Asia-Latin America in the colonial era

Abstract

This paper analyzes the contribution of Asian immigrants to the development of Mexico’s popular culture and regional identities through the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the colonial period. Drawing on insights of cultural borrowing, transnational interaction, and imperial formation, this research examines the trade of pulque, tuba, and palm wine or vino de cocos. It argues that the proliferation of such beverages in certain regions of New Spain among natives and transoceanic immigrants proves that empires and nations not only are built from military, religious, and diplomatic efforts, but also from quotidian cultural practices and the exchange of transnational commodities and technology. Moreover, the active interaction of colonial subjects and their exchanges contributed to the development of Mexico’s regional identities and popular culture. This research relies on paintings, archival records, traveler accounts, literary texts, and secondary sources.

Author

• Maria Aurea Toxqui-Garay, Bradley University