Fernández de Oviedo's chronicle of America : a new history for a New World / Kathleen Ann Myers ; translations by Nina M. Scott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Myers, Kathleen Ann.

Contributor:

Scott, Nina M.

Language:

English

Spanish

Subjects (All):

Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, Gonzalo, 1478-1557. Historia general y natural de las Indias.

Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, Gonzalo.

Historians.

Discoveries in geography.

America--Early accounts to 1600.

America.

America--Discovery and exploration--Historiography.

Historiography.

America--Discovery and exploration--Biography.

Historians--America--Biography.

Historians--Spain--Biography.

Spain.

Explorers--America--Biography.

Explorers.

Explorers--Spain--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 324 pages : illustrations, facsimiles ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Chronicle of America : a new history for a New World

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2007.

Summary:

Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo (1478-1557) wrote the first comprehensive history of Spanish America, the Historia general y natural de las Indias, a sprawling, constantly revised work in which Oviedo attempted nothing less than a complete account of the Spanish discovery, conquest, and colonization of the Americas from 1492 to 1547, along with descriptions of the land's flora, fauna, and indigenous peoples. His Historia, which grew to an astounding fifty volumes, includes numerous interviews with the Spanish and indigenous leaders who were literally making history, the first extensive field drawings of America rendered by a European, reports of "exotic" creatures, ethnographic descriptions of indigenous groups, and detailed reports about the conquest and colonization process.

Fernandez de Oviedo's Chronicle of America explores how, in writing his Historia, Oviedo created a new historiographical model that reflected the vastness of the Americas and Spain's enterprise there. Kathleen Myers uses a series of case studies-focusing on Oviedo's self-portraits, drawings of American phenomena, approaches to myth, process of revision, and depictions of Native Americans-to analyze Oviedo's narrative and rhetorical strategies and show how they relate to the politics, history, and discursive practices of his time. Accompanying the case studies are all of Oviedo's extant field drawings and a wide selection of his text in English translation.

The first study to examine the entire Historia and its evolving rhetorical and historical context, this book confirms Oviedo's assertion that "the New World required a different kind of history" as it helps modern readers understand how the discovery of the Americas became a catalyst for European historiographical change.

Contents:

Introduction: New World, New History and the Writing of America 1

1 Between Two Worlds: The Life and Writing of Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes 12

2 A Reader's Guide to a New World History 26

3 The Historian as actor and Autobiographer: Tierra Firme 1514 41

4 Eyewitness to America's Wonders: Illustrating a Natural History of the Indies 63

5 Amazon Women and New World Realities: Documenting an Expanding World 82

6 Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico: Truth and Multiple Testimonies 98

7 Native Americans in Oviedo's History 113

A Chronology of Fernandez de Oviedo's Life and Works 139

B Map of Hispaniola and Tierra Firme, Ca. 1540 142

C Translations of Passages from Fernandez de Oviedo's: Historia general y natural de Las Indias 143

1 Prologue, Part I, Book 1 145

2 Book 29, Chapter 6 (Tierra Firme) 152

3 Book 7, Chapter 16 (The Pineapple) 159

4 Book 6, Chapter 33 (Amazon Women) 164

5 Book 33, Chapter 54 (Interview with Juan Cano) 166

6 Book 29, Chapter 26 (Natives of Tierra Firme) 174

D Table. Historia General y Natural Manuscript Locations and Illustrations/Woodcuts 180.

Notes:

Translations of passages from Fernández de Oviedo's Historia general y natural de las Indias--Acknowledgments.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [301]-313) and index.

Contains:

Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, Gonzalo, 1478-1557. Historia general y natural de las Indias. Selections. English

ISBN:

9780292717039

0292717032

OCLC:

137222785