The Spacious Word
Cartography, Literature, and Empire in Early Modern Spain
302 pages
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36 halftones
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6 x 9
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© 2004
The Spacious Word explores the history of Iberian expansion into the Americas as seen through maps and cartographic literature, and considers the relationship between early Spanish ideas of the world and the origins of European colonialism. Spanish mapmakers and writers, as Padrón shows, clung to a much older idea of space that was based on the itineraries of travel narratives and medieval navigational techniques.
Padrón contends too that maps and geographic writings heavily influenced the Spanish imperial imagination. During the early modern period, the idea of "America" was still something being invented in the minds of Europeans. Maps of the New World, letters from explorers of indigenous civilizations, and poems dramatizing the conquest of distant lands, then, helped Spain to redefine itself both geographically and imaginatively as an Atlantic and even global empire. In turn, such literature had a profound influence on Spanish ideas of nationhood, most significantly its own.
Elegantly conceived and meticulously researched, The Spacious Word will be of enormous interest to historians of Spain, early modern literature, and cartography.
Padrón contends too that maps and geographic writings heavily influenced the Spanish imperial imagination. During the early modern period, the idea of "America" was still something being invented in the minds of Europeans. Maps of the New World, letters from explorers of indigenous civilizations, and poems dramatizing the conquest of distant lands, then, helped Spain to redefine itself both geographically and imaginatively as an Atlantic and even global empire. In turn, such literature had a profound influence on Spanish ideas of nationhood, most significantly its own.
Elegantly conceived and meticulously researched, The Spacious Word will be of enormous interest to historians of Spain, early modern literature, and cartography.
"Padr[5]on is an incisive critic. . . . The Spacious Word focuses a dynamic picture of the ideologies at play in the long and complicated 'invention' of America."
"This book is an intelligent and sophisticated unraveling of contemporary cartographic literature. . . . Through his close reading of maps and other iconographic literature, Padr[5]on demonstrates that a variety of perceptions of space existed among European polities as well as among various authors within a single empire."
"[The author] carefully establishes his case that cartography and empire are inseparable, by showing how the work of sixteenth-century Spanish intellectuals in numerous fields contributes to the construction and mapping of 'America' in the Spanish consciousness. . . . A meticulously researched study that makes an intriguing area of inquiry accessible to both generalists and specialists alike. The clarity of his presentation will also facilitate the use of his valuable findings by scholars in numerous fields."—Mark DeStephano, Renaissance Quarterly
“Abundantly and helpfully illustrated, The Spacious Word skillfully weaves the analysis of images and text to explore the subtle and complex interactions between the different models and concepts of space and . . . the selected texts demonstrate the manner in which imperial ideals, aspirations and realities shaped and were served by different forms and traditions of cartography. . . . The Spacious Word is an insightful and undoubtedly original book, which provides an illuminating new perspective on the development of the Spanish imperial imagination and its associated understandings of space.”
“In this groundbreaking study Ricardo Padrón brings to bear on early modern Hispanic studies the burgeoning field of critical geography. . . . Nuanced, learned, and original, mapping for us an entirely new way of reading the lay of the land.”
"An ambitious and accomplished combination of literature, history and geography. Its most successful passages are those where [the author] zeroes in on literary works, demonstrating his sharp and imaginative skills at analysing and interpreting texts and situating them historically."
"As [the author] moves from studying cartographers and their art through conquistadors, historians, and poets, he portrays a rich Renaissance discourse about empire and uses literary, historical, and geographical methods to present a compelling picture of a multilayered society able to draw on literature, history, and geography to assimilate and conquer new lands."
"Padrón meticulously documents the history of European cartography, exploring the intricate web composed by the ostensible relationship between cartography and written discourse."—Horacio Chiong Rivero, Sixteenth-Century Journal
“The Spacious Word explores the interrelationships among early modern Spanish literature and culture, the history and historiography of Spanish exploration and conquest, the invention of the European concept of America, and the cartography and cartographic writings of the period. Ricardo Padrón demonstrates that even when a purportedly new world is discovered, its assumed discoverers construct their understanding of it slowly, building on their inherited conception of the world. This is an ambitious and fascinating study.”<Margaret R. Greer, Duke University>
“The Spacious Word is an intelligent and wholly original volume. Ricardo Padrón opens up new debates about cartography and empire in the Spanish and New World during the sixteenth century. His focus, unlike most scholars, is less upon maps per se than on the concept of space as it appears in the literature, poems, and cartographic writings of the early modern period. This is an important and elegantly written work.”<Richard L. Kagan, Johns Hopkins University>
"Padrón's interpretation of the rich store of geographical writings left by Spaniards of the early modern period opens new vistas for Latin American historical geography. . . . Here a visitor to the field shows geographers how to expertly interpret sources and raise for readers in all disciplines the level of awareness of the major impact geography has had."
"A rich, suggestive, and informative study, with fascinating insights along the way."
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
The Invention of America and the Invention of the Map
Tracking Space
Mapping New Spain
Charting an Insular Empire
Between Scylla and Charybdis
Conclusion
Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgments
The Invention of America and the Invention of the Map
Tracking Space
Mapping New Spain
Charting an Insular Empire
Between Scylla and Charybdis
Conclusion
Works Cited
Index
For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu
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Geography: Cartography
History: Latin American History
Literature and Literary Criticism: Romance Languages
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