Chronicles of the New World: primary sources for the study of the history of the spanish America (1492-1898)

Abstract

The study of the History of Spanish America owes much to the western written culture, also today the legacy of the Amerindian oral tradition is recovered. The primary sources offer a spontaneous panorama in the testimonial, rich, diverse and abundant, not exempt from a necessary criticism and crossing of testimonies. The notorious american chronicles obey a specific time and place, and manifest an explicit interest in the knowledge and possession of the New World, its nature and its people. At the same time that the associated alterity and identity are analyzed, the alien gaze and the connection of cultures turned into biological miscegenation and cultural syncretism are not ignored.