The Memory of Polleras: Non-Human Agency of Clothing in the Altiplano

• In Event: Representaciones y prácticas de la indigeneidad contemporánea

Abstract

In the Altiplano (South East of the Andes) “polleras” is the style of dress that marks the wearer as “Indian.” The wearers are women who claim that their clothes constitute a modern style, although the oldest image of polleras dates back A.D. 200. Beyond identity and historical background as principal reasons to wear polleras, this paper examines if polleras have memory and how it works. Using the ontological turn theory, this research pinpoints non-human agency by arguing that agency may not be a consequence of human beings. While the literature on clothing and memory already addresses that garments can hold memory, what happens if the clothes can hold more than one life, as may be the case of polleras? What if polleras are not dependent on human memory and instead possess a memory of their own? This study will contribute to the debates on materiality, non-human agency and ontological turn regarding to clothing and memory.

Author

• Angela Tapia