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IXSTITL'TE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 



Later acquaintance with C. A. showed him to be 

 normally a most reserved and rather melancholy 

 man, whose expansiveness and aggressiveness ap- 

 peared only when released by alcohol. 



This episode illustrates several features of the 

 typical chicha-and-causa relaxation complex. ( 1 ) 

 The affairs are impromptu and guests may attend 

 without prior invitation, although strangers without 

 an introduction by a recognized friend would not 

 be admitted. (2) The ordinarily quiet, if not taci- 

 turn, natives of Moche become voluble. Inhibitions 

 are released and utterance is sometimes given to 

 statements which it is extremely difficult to pry out 

 of a Mochero when sober. A certain jocularity ap- 

 pears, which is seldom attempted during sobriety. 

 Singing and dancing are indulged in freely, whereas, 

 when sober, the typical individual feels embarrassed 

 by activity which draws attention to himself. (3) 

 The removal of inhibitions leads to expression of 

 suppressed aggressions, as in the case of C. A.'s 

 remarks about his mistress and his eagerness to 

 shoot Japs. Overt physical scuffles sometimes occur 

 during these affairs, and the aftermath of every large 

 fiesta usually includes several persons in the local 

 jail for fighting. Conversely, expression is given 

 to friendly and sympathetic feelings which otherwise 

 are not demonstratively expressed. In fact, it seems 

 that the typical Mochero does not know how "to be 

 himself" without the help of chiclia. When sober 

 he may be personally pleasant, but he is either re- 

 served and noncommittal, or taciturn, or on the de- 

 fensive. Of course, a stranger and a foreigner such 

 as myself would receive this impression more forcibly, 

 but as confidence in me developed and my acquaint- 

 ance deepened, I was even more convinced that 

 chicha provided a welcome release from anxieties or 

 other tensions among and within the Mocheros. 

 Strangely, only one person in his cups expressed 

 dislike and aggression toward me personally during 

 my time in Moche. Fortunately, after a tussle be- 

 tween us one day, he became a great friend who 

 thereafter annoyed me almost as much with his 

 effusive abrazos (a form of embrace when men 

 greet each other) as he had previously with his in- 

 sults. His first antagonism toward me was at least 

 in part based ujMjn a long-standing grudge against 

 gringos, apparently dating from an unfortunate ex- 

 perience with an employee of the railroad in his 

 boyhood. (4) The pattern is to get drunk, but not 

 "dead drunk." One drinks and eats causa with his 

 friends to enjoy himself, not to "pass out." C. A.'s 



insistence on leaving when he felt that he was in 

 danger of not being able to walk is fairly typical. 

 A "passed out" drunk is a rare sight in Mochi.'. 

 Individuals usually go home when they cannot hold 

 more. There are exceptions, to be sure, but the 

 Moche pattern is not that of an orgy in which the 

 participants seemingly wish to blot out all conscious- 

 ness save that of tlie high-keyed nervous pleasure 

 of the dissipation itself. One might say that the 

 Mocheros unconsciously wish to submerge, by means 

 of drink, the consciousness of certain restraints which 

 ]>revcnt them from fully expressing and enjoying 

 their own potentialities ; but once the state is achieved, 

 thev wish to prolong it, not to blot it out also. 



The comparative rarity of quick and stupefying 

 drunkenness is, of course, reinforced by the pattern 

 itself; chicha rather than hard liquor customarily 

 forms the major part of the drink; it is always con- 

 sumed with food ; and one drinks in the stimulating 

 atmosphere of the presence of others. Nevertheless, 

 there is no acquired cultural drive leading one to 

 i]uick drunken oblivion. I believe that I am safe in 

 characterizing the Moche drinking-and-eating pat- 

 tern's cultural goal as relaxation, relaxation of 

 jisychosocial restraints, rather than debauchery. 



Another feature of possible significance is the 

 comparative moderation of language at Moche drink- 

 ing bouts. Although people become voluble and loud, 

 the standard tension-releasing words of Spanish 

 arc not very much employed and the obsessive inter- 

 est in sexual, scatological, blasphemous, and obscene 

 topics displayed by many Mestizos in other parts of 

 the country, even when sober, seldom appears in the 

 Mocheros, even when in their cups. Sex matters 

 may he discussed a little more freely, but not with 

 unusual affect, for sex and bodily functions are com- 

 mon topics of conversation in mixed company at any 

 time. The sonorous oaths and obscenities in which 

 the Spanish language is so rich are not perhaps as 

 much used in Peru as in certain other Latin Ameri- 

 can countries ; but Peru has an ample, if compara- 

 tively restricted, fund of them in common use. Yet 

 I have seldom heard much of the standard Peruvian 

 swearing in Moche. 



SPORTS 



Modern team sports make an appeal primarily to 

 the younger generation. 



Football (of the type called "soccer" in North 

 America) is played enthusiastically on Sunday after- 

 noons, usually before an audience of at least 40 or 



