Producing the Pacific: Maps and Narratives of Spanish Exploration, 1567-1606 (Portada Hispánica 18) (Portada Hispanica)

Producing the Pacific offers the reader an interdisciplinary reading of the maps, narratives and rituals related to the three Spanish voyages to the South Pacific that took place between 1567 and 1606. These journeys were led by ?lvaro de Menda?a, Pedro Fern?ndez de Quir?s and Isabel Barreto, the first woman ever to become admiral of and command a fleet. Mercedes Maroto Camino presents a cultural analysis of these journeys and takes issue with some established notions about the value of the past and the way it is always rewritten from the perspective of the present. She highlights the social, political and cultural environment in which maps and narratives circulate, suggesting that their significance is always subject to negotiation and transformation. The tapestry created by the interpretation of maps, narratives and rituals affords a view not only of the minds of the first men and women who traversed the Pacific but also of how they saw the ocean, its islands and their peoples. Producing the Pacific should, therefore, be of relevance to those interested in history, voyages, colonialism, cartography, anthropology and cultural studies. The study of these cultural products contributes to an interpretive history of colonialism at the same time that it challenges the beliefs and assumptions that underscore our understanding of that history. Mercedes Maroto Camino is Associate Professor of Spanish at the School of European Languages and Literatures of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her main areas of research are: early modern women’s writing, history of cartography, cross-cultural voyages, and Spanish film and media studies. She has published two books and many articles in international journals and has been the recipient of various fellowships and awards, including two Marsden Grants from the Royal Society of New Zealand, two Smith Fellowships at the Newberry Library (Chicago) and two from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well fellowships from the National Maritime Museum (Greenwich), American Geographical Society (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), J. B. Harley Trust (British Library, London) and Holzheimer-History of Cartography Fellowship (University of Wisconsin-Madison). Annotation. "Producing the Pacific offers the reader an interdisciplinary reading of the maps, narratives and rituals related to the three Spanish voyages to the South Pacific that took place between 1567 and 1606. These journeys were led by Alvaro de Mendana, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros and Isabel Barreto, the first woman ever to become admiral of and command a fleet." "Mercedes Maroto Camino presents a cultural analysis of these journeys takes issue with some established notions about the value of the past and the way it is always rewritten from the perspective of the present. She highlights the social, political and cultural environment in which maps and narratives circulate, suggesting that their significance is always subject to negotiation and transformation." "The tapestry created by the interpretation of maps, narratives and rituals affords a view not only of the minds of the first men and women who traversed the Pacific but also of how they saw the ocean, its islands and their peoples. It should, therefore, be of relevance to those interested in history, voyages, colonialism, cartography, anthropology and cultural studies." "The study of these cultural products contributes to an interpretive history of colonialism at the same time that it challenges the beliefs and assumptions that underscore our understanding of that history."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved Producing the Pacific offers the reader an interdisciplinary reading of the maps, narratives and rituals related to the three Spanish voyages to the South Pacific that took place between 1567 and 1606. These journeys were led by Álvaro de Mendaña, Pedro Fernández de Quirós and Isabel Barreto, the first woman ever to become admiral of and command a fleet. Mercedes Maroto Camino presents a cultural analysis of these journeys and takes issue with some established notions about the value of the past and the way it is always rewritten from the perspective of the present. She highlights the social, political and cultural environment in which maps and narratives circulate, suggesting that their significance is always subject to negotiation and transformation. The tapestry created by the interpretation of maps, narratives and rituals affords a view not only of the minds of the first men and women who traversed the Pacific but also of how they saw the ocean, its islands and their peoples. Producing the Pacific should, therefore, be of relevance to those interested in history, voyages, colonialism, cartography, anthropology and cultural studies. The study of these cultural products contributes to an interpretive history of colonialism at the same time that it challenges the beliefs and assumptions that underscore our understanding of that history Producing the Pacific offers the reader an interdisciplinary reading of the maps, narratives and rituals related to the three Spanish voyages to the South Pacific that took place between 1567 and 1606. These journeys were led by Alvaro de Mendana, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros and Isabel Barreto, the first woman ever to become admiral of and command a fleet. Mercedes Maroto Camino presents a cultural analysis of these journeys and takes issue with some established notions about the value of the past and the way it is always rewritten from the perspective of the present. She highlights the social, political and cultural environment in which maps and narratives circulate, suggesting that their significance is always subject to negotiation and transformation. The tapestry created by the interpretation of maps, narratives and rituals affords a view not only of the minds of the first men and women who traversed the Pacific but also of how they saw the ocean, its islands and their peoples. Producing the Pacific should, therefore, be of relevance to those interested in history, voyages, colonialism, cartography, anthropology and cultural studies. The study of these cultural products contributes to an interpretive history of colonialism at the same time that it challenges the beliefs and assumptions that underscore our understanding of that history. Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 List of Illustrations and Credit Lines......Page 12 1. Introduction: Imag(in)ing the Southern Continent, 1567 – 1606......Page 16 2. Exploring the South Pacific......Page 30 2.1 Failure and Futility in the Voyages of Mendaña and Quirós......Page 32 2.2 The (Mis)representation of Isabel Barreto: Woman, Governor and Admiral of the Isles of Solomon......Page 45 3. Mapping the Pacific......Page 70 3.1 Plotting the Southern Continent......Page 73 3.2 Staging the Southern Continent......Page 83 4. Performing the South Pacific......Page 102 5. Conclusion: Inventing, Performing and Practising: The Production of the Early Modern Pacific......Page 122 Works Cited......Page 128 B......Page 136 C......Page 137 G......Page 138 J......Page 139 M......Page 140 Q......Page 142 S......Page 143 V......Page 144 Z......Page 145 Camino (European languages and literatures, U. of Auckland) shows how the early modern Spanish invention, construction, performance, and production of the Pacific, called the South Seas in the 16th and 17th centuries, was informed by a search for the Isles of Gold and Silver; the question of whether there was a fourth continent and if so whether it was inhabited; and other biblical, classical, cartographic, and folkloric beliefs. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR The exploration of the Pacific in the early modern period was informed by various beliefs and assumptions.