COLONIAL ENCOUNTERS: THE SPANISH INVENTION OF THE NEW WORLD

Steven Volk
Rice 309
Office Phone: x8522
Home Phone: 774-1129
Email: Steven.Volk@oberlin.edu
Quickmail: Steve_Volk@qmgate.cc.oberlin.edu
Web: Steve Volk Home Page

There is probably very little in the course of human history which can compare with the encounters of the late 15th and early 16th century between Europeans and "New World Americans." Earlier European (and other) voyagers had encountered extreme cultural differences; but on all occasions there had been a sporadic history of previous contact and the moves which brought "encounterer" and "encountered" together had been gradual, piecemeal. The length of the voyage across the Atlantic, the total unfamiliarity of the new land and its unexpectedness will make the Columbian encounter unique.

How do we, then, understand it; how do we make sense of what these voyagers left behind? This course is an attempt to begin the process of interpreting the writings of some of the early Spanish (and, in one case, French) travelers to the "New World". As you will find, this is not an easy process, for it will lead us to examine the very process of representation and history: Do the accounts of Columbus, De Léry, Cortés, del Castillo, and others tell us more about the people and places they encountered or about their own culture? Can we ever represent another culture? To what extent were the Europeans in America unwilling or unable to conceptually understand what lay before them?

This, then is a course about cultural interactions and the potential and limitation of all such cultural exchange. It is also a course about reading, for we will ourselves encounter a variety of ways in which the textual remains of these European voyagers can be approached, comprehended, interrogated. The reading assignments will include a number of secondary, or interpretative approaches, but they are based fundamentally on primary documents: the writings of the travelers themselves. These texts will be the field on which we engage and interact.

Internet Sources

There are an increasing number of Internet sources devoted to historical topics. I will include a number of "hot link" sources in this syllabus. In particular, I call your attention to Columbus and the Age of Discovery, a searchable collection of over 1100 text articles on Columbus and the encounter.

Assignments and Grading:

It is your primary responsibility to remain current with the weekly reading assignments. As a colloquium -- i.e., not a lecture class -- the class will depend on your participation, and you will not be able to participate intelligently if you haven’t done the reading. If you are having problems with the readings or in terms of participating in the class, please see me or raise your concerns in class. Together, we will construct a classroom setting in which we all feel comfortable, challenged, and able to learn.

Besides reading, you are responsible for three papers over the course of the semester on topics to be assigned. You will also have an opportunity to present your third paper to the class prior to turning in a final written version. Grades will be determined as follows:

Class participation: 20%
1st and 2nd paper: 20% each
Presentation: 10%
3rd paper: 30%

Papers are due on the assigned days. If you need an extension and have a reasonable request, please see me before the due date of the paper. Papers which are turned in after the due date and without an extension will be docked one grade step for each class period that they are late. In other words, if you turn in a "B+" paper on October 10 which was due on October 6, it will be a "B." If you turn it in on October 13, it will get a "B-" and a "C+" on October 17, etc. PLEASE see me if you need an extension. Your last paper is due on December 14, the last day of reading period. I cannot accept papers after that date unless you take an official incomplete in the course.

PRIMARY MATERIALS

Christopher Columbus, The Four Voyages, trans. and introduction by J.M Cohen (New York and London: Penguin Books), 1969. [Dates spent in Americas: 1492-93; 1493-96; 1498-1500; 1502-04. Original draft by Columbus written during voyages; copy lost. Hernando Colon’s version, 1571.]

Bartolomé de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, translated by Nigel Griffin with introduction by Anthony Pagden (New York and London: Penguin Books), 1992. [Dates spent in the Americas: 1502-1576 (on and off). First draft, 1542. First printed edition, 1552.]

Hernando Cortés, Letters from Mexico, trans. and ed. Anthony Pagden (New Haven: Yale University Press), 1986. Dates spent in Americas: 1504-1528; 1529-1540. Drafts of the letters: 1519-1526.]

Bernal Díaz, The Conquest of New Spain, trans. with introduction by J. M. Cohen (Baltimore: Penguin Books), 1963. [Dates spent in Americas: 1514-1521. Date of draft: 1568.]

Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, trans. and edited by Cyclone Covey (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press), 1993. [Dates spent in Americas: 1527-1537. First publication: 1542 (Zamora, Spain). Also known in Spanish as La Relación and Naufragios.]

Jean de Léry, History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, trans. and introduction by Janet Whatley (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992. [Dates spent in the Americas: 1556-1558; first draft: 1563; publication: 1578.]

SECONDARY MATERIALS

Patricia Seed, Ceremonies of Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the New World, 1492-1640 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 1995.

Eviatar Zerubavel, Terra Cognita: The Mental Discovery of America (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press),1992.

September 5: Introduction: Recognition and Representation and the Historian

September 8, 12: "Discovery" - the Physical World of 1492

Reading: Eviatar Zerubavel, Terra Cognita: The Mental Discovery of America (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992), pp. 1-118.

Columbus and the Age of Discovery

Cartographic Images. This site has an index of 120 early medieval maps (400-1300); 246 late medieval maps (1300-1500); and 290 Renaissance maps. Many of the maps are directly linked and can be called up and downloaded.

September 15, 19: The Problem of Recognition: Pre- "Encounter" Images

Reading: Anthony Pagden, The Fall of Natural Man, Introduction, Chs. 1-2 (pp. 1-26). (Reserve reading)

Stephen Greenblatt, Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), Introduction and Chapter 1 (pp. 1-51)

Seymour Phillips, "The Outer World of the European Middle Ages," in Stuart B. Schwartz, ed., Implicit Understandings: Observing, Reporting, and Reflecting on the Encounters Between Europeans and Other Peoples in the Early Modern Era (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 23-63. (Reserve reading)

September 22, 26: Columbus

Reading: Christopher Columbus, The Four Voyages, trans. and introduction by J.M Cohen (New York and London: Penguin Books), 1969. Book to be read over next two weeks.

Columbus, Selections from Journal and Letter to King and Queen of Spain

September 29, October 3: Reading Columbus

Reading: Greenblatt, Marvelous Possessions, pp. 52-85. Continue with Columbus, The Four Voyages

October 6, 10: Ceremonies of Possession: Creating Political Authority

Reading: Patricia Seed, Ceremonies of Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the New World, 1492-1640, pp. 1-99.

October 13, 17: The Beginnings of Comparative Ethnology: Jean de Léry

Reading: Seed, Ceremonies of Possession, pp. 100-148.

Jean de Léry, History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, pp.-6, 25-32, 56-77, 112-177.

October 27, 31: Bernal Díaz del Castillo: The Soldier

Reading: Bernal Díaz, The Conquest of New Spain, trans. with introduction by J. M. Cohen. Book to be read over next two weeks.

Aztec Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico

November 3, 7: Intermediaries and Liminality

Greenblatt, Marvelous Possessions, Chapter 5 (pp. 119-151). Continue reading Diaz. Individual readings on Malinche, Sacajawea, Pocahontas, Squanto, etc., will be available.

November 10, 14: Cortés: Establishing the Legal Bases of Conquest

Reading: Hernando Cortés, Letters from Mexico, Pagden edition. Read introduction and first two letters.

November 17, 21: Cabeza de Vaca: Transculturation

Reading: Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America, trans. and edited by Cyclone Covey. Entire book.

November 24: Las Casas: The Colonial Critic

Reading: Bartolomé de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, translated by Nigel Griffin with introduction by Anthony Pagden. Entire book.

Bartolome de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, 1542, excerpts.

December 1, 5: Presentations

December 8: Presentations