Totten, Kelley D., 1976-2010-01-082010-01-082009-09https://hdl.handle.net/1794/10081xiv, 98 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.The Mantaro Valley of Peru is known for its distinctive Andean villages whose residents specialize in a traditional craft that defines the community's identity: gourd carvers call Cochas Grande home; tapestry weavers reside in Hualhuas; and silversmiths forge traditional designs in San Jeronimo. As tourism to the region develops, travelers purchase these handicrafts as souvenirs to represent and remember a visit to Peru. John Urry suggests that tourists "gaze" on locals, causing them to reconstruct themselves in terms of the tourists' ideas of authenticity. Based on my fieldwork in the Mantaro Valley, I complicate Urry's argument by presenting a multifaceted approach analyzing the complex ways in which these women communicate their individual, familial, regional and national identities through the objects they create. I incorporate visual rhetoric and material behavior theories to suggest alternative ways-of-looking within tourism interactions that consider the relationships between the craftswomen, intermediaries and tourists.en-USHandicraft -- Peru -- Mantaro River ValleyThesis