The Discourse of History in Andean America: Europeans Writing for Europeans

Abstract

Esta tesis demuestra la existencia de tendencias contradictorias y opuestas en tres discursos del siglo XVI que aclaran tanto el análisis social como el literario e histórico andino contemporáneo. Las lecturas que propongo para estas crónicas tempranas se basan en desarrollos recientes de teorías sociales y literarias, centrándose en críticas del discurso colonial y de la escritura de la historia. Estas teorizaciones han provocado una necesaria y significativa reevaluación de las crónicas. Aun así, estas críticas muchas veces reproducen el punto de vista imperial, es decir, la perspectiva del colonizador desde la cual se continúa considerando a la desigualdad como natural o inclusive estética, y a la diferencia se le define como la inferioridad del “otro”.

The early chronicles about Andean America have been considered as the foundational texts for the writing of History. This dissertation claims that instead, they are versions describing native life in the area. These versions show, necessarily, a positionality in each of the authors, reflecting the European perspective they shared with their audiences in the Peninsula. This study is focused on three chroniclers: Pedro de Cieza, Juan de Betanzos and Polo de Ondegardo. They all lived in the Andes, probably met in Cuzco between 1548 and 1549, and wrote their texts between 1550 and 1571. Cieza produced a historical account, Ondegardo an administrative report, and Betanzos, a combination of both. Semiotic methodology has been used in defining chronicles as discourses: specific ways historic individual have of organizing codified systems to generate sense in chosen audiences. Post-colonial theory is the perspective from which the deconstruction of foundational texts is approached. The analysis makes evident that these chroniclers were Spanish authors writing for Spanish audiences, having to adapt their writings to be understood by European readers. The persuasive strategies each author devised for his specific audience are also acknowledged and analyzed. Cieza resorts to testimoniality, Ondegardo appeals to reason and Betanzos uses mediation as his tactics to persuade his audience. The texts show sites of cultural conflict. These sites have been ports of entry into the cultural patterns and the ways in which these patterns affected perception and description. This is especially crucial to consider when the authors are part of a colonizing situation in which the colonized culture is being described.