To the European imagination, America was a tabula rasa, a virgin territory. As this program describes, narrative art forms were essential to making sense of this exotic Eden and the possibilities it offered. New Spain became a place for re-creating myths and legends of the Western literary canon, for transforming poetry, prose, and epic literature. The diaries of Columbus, Bartolome de las Casas' History of the Indies, Bernal Diaz' True History of the Conquest of New Spain, and Bernardino de Sahagun's Florentine Codex are explored along with works from indigenous authors of the early colonial period-such as Ixtlilxochitl (History of the Chichimec Nation), Munoz Camargo (History of Tlaxcala), and Alvarado Tezozomoc (Mexicayotl Chronicle).
To the European imagination, America was a tabula rasa, a virgin territory. As this program describes, narrative art forms were essential to making sense of this exotic Eden and the possibilities it offered. New Spain became a place for re-creating myths and legends of the Western literary canon, for transforming poetry, prose, and epic literature. The diaries of Columbus, Bartolome de las Casas' History of the Indies, Bernal Diaz' True History of the Conquest of New Spain, and Bernardino de Sahagun's Florentine Codex are explored along with works from indigenous authors of the early colonial period-such as Ixtlilxochitl (History of the Chichimec Nation), Munoz Camargo (History of Tlaxcala), and Alvarado Tezozomoc (Mexicayotl Chronicle).
General Note
Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on Sept. 01, 2007.
Learn360 is distributed by Infobase for Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, and Shopware.
Content Note
Latin American Myths (1:40) -- Columbus' Navigation Diaries of "The Indies" (3:03) -- Columbus and the Noble Savages (2:41) -- Expeditions of Cortez (5:10) -- Spanish Explorations: Shipwrecks Narrative (2:58) -- Spanish Explorations: Historians and Chroniclers (2:59) -- Latin American Literature (2:49) -- Defense of Indigenous Peoples Against Conquistadors (2:01) -- Indigenous Histories (3:46) -- Incan Empire: Before and After European Invasions (2:17) -- Peru: Indigenous Historians (3:33) -- Colonial Society in Peru: Culture of the Baroque (1:51) -- Influential Mestiza Writer: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz (4:42) -- 17th Century: Pro-Feminist Views vs. Catholic Church (1:50) -- In Search of Their Indigenous Past: Mestizos (1:28).