A Geography of Hard Times

Angela Perez-Mejia, Dick Cluster

Description

This fascinating glimpse into South America's past focuses on the works of four European voyagers who came to South America and left a legacy of travel writing in their wake: José Celestino Mutis, a Spanish botanist and doctor; Alexander von Humboldt, a German geographer; Maria Graham, a British historian; and Flora Tristán, a French feminist and labor activist whose father was Peruvian. Each took on his or her voyage as a personal endeavor, and collectively their travels covered the Andes from its northern traces in Venezuela to the southern heights of Chile and Arequipa. Their writing contributed to the construction of a complex map of the Andes in which many levels of physical and social geography may be read. By analyzing the travelers' narratives, illustrations, and maps, Ángela Pérez-Mejía unravels the rich complexities of the colonial travel experience, explores its impact on both the object of description and the traveler's subjectivity, and the collective readership seeking a discourse of nationhood.

Acknowledgments

List of Illustrations

Introduction

PART I: THE SCHOLAR AND THE BARON: VOYAGE OF THE EXACT SCIENCES

Introduction to Part I

1. Mutis, or the Trap of Mutisia Clematis

2. Humboldt: The Silences and Complicities of Cartography

PART II: THE DAUGHTER OF THE EAST AND THE PARIAH: VOYAGE OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Introduction to Part II

3. Graham: The White Daughter of the East, or a Foreigner in Indomitable Lands

4. Tristán, or the Incendiary Geography of a Pilgrim Pariah

Epilogue

Notes

References

Index

Sujets

• América del Sur
• South America
• History of the Americas
• Central America
• SS Central America
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791485453
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

A Geography of Hard Times

SUNY SERIES IN

L ATIN A MERICAN AND I BERIAN T HOUGHT AND C ULTURE

Jorge J. E. Gracia

Rosemary Geisdorfer Feal

Editors

A GEOGRAPHY OF HARD TIMES

Narratives about Travel to South America, 1780–1849

Ángela PérezMejía

Translated by Dick Cluster

S T AT E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K P R E S S

Original title:La Geografía de los tiempos difíciles: escritura de viajes a Sur América durante los procesos de independencia 1780–1849. Published in 2002 by Editorial Universidad de Antioquia. © Ángela PérezMejía © Editorial Universidad de Antioquia

Published by

S TATE U NIVERSITY OF N EW Y ORK P RESS , A LBANY

© 2004 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

PérezMejía, Ángela. [Geografía de los tiempos difíciles. English] A geography of hard times : narratives about travel to South America, 1780–1849 Angela PérezMejía / translated by Dick Cluster. p. cm. — (SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian thought and culture) Inclues bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0791460134 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0791460142 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Andes Region—Description and travel. 2. Andes Region—Social life and customs. 3. Travelers’ writings, European—History and criticism. 4. Visitors, Foreign—Latin America—History—18th century. 5. Visitors, Foreign—Latin America—History—19th century. 6. Visitors, Foreign—Latin America—Attitudes. 7. Mutis, José Celestino, 1732–1808—Diaries. 8. Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769–1859—Diaries. 9. Callcott, Maria, Lady, 1785–1842—Diaries. 10. Tristan, Flora, 1803–1844—Diaries. I. Title. II. Series.

F2212.P4713 2004 918.04'2—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2003060760

Acknowledgments

List of Illustrations

Introduction

PART I

chapter 1

chapter 2

PART II

chapter 3

chapter 4

Epilogue

Notes

References

Index

Contents

THE SCHOLAR AND THE BARON: VOYAGE OF THE EXACT SCIENCES Introduction to Part I

Mutis,orThe Trap ofMutisia Clematis

Humboldt: The Silences and Complicities of Cartography

THE DAUGHTER OF THE EAST AND THE PARIAH: VOYAGE OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Introduction to Part II

Graham: The White Daughter of the East, orA Foreigner in Indomitable Lands

Tristán,orThe Incendiary Geography of a Pilgrim Pariah

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Acknowledgments

THE LONG VOYAGE this book represents has unfolded in several stages and I owe debts of gratitude all along the way. This work grew out of my disserta tion at State University of New York, Stony Brook, directed by Lou CharnonDeustch, whose careful reading along with our numerous conversa tions have guided me over the years. I also benefited there from the advice of Pedro Lastra, Malcolm Read, Antonio VeraLeón, Kathleen M. Vernon, Georgina SabatRivers, Elias Rivers, and Roman de la Campa. In the years following, I gained from the comments and insights of my colleagues at Bran deis University, of whom I especially thank Silvia Arrom, Jim Mandrell, Dian Fox, and Faith Smith. I thank Mary Campbell and Doris Sommer for their constant encouragement and inspiration, and Timothy Brennan for his ongoing support. My sincere gratitude goes also to Rosemary G. Feal for her belief in my work. I am indebted to Dick Cluster for his thoroughness and helpful suggestions and for making the tedious process of reviewing a transla tion into many interesting conversations. This translation was possible thanks to a Brandeis University faculty grant. I am grateful to Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango in Bogotá and The John Carter Brown Library, Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, for permission to reproduce illustrations. I am humbled by the honorable men tion the Spanish version of this work received by the jury of the International Prize Casa de las Américas, Cuba 2000, in the category of literary essay. Many thanks to my family, to Carol Marton and to the many friends and colleagues who have supported me and held my hand along the way, among them: Deborah Pacini, Reebee Garofalo, Darío Jaramillo, Patricia Londoño, Juan Camilo Sierra, Margarita Sánchez, and María Teresa Vé1ez.

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Illustrations

“José Celestino Mutis” Villegas, Oil on Canvas, Attributed to Salvador Rizo 118 x104 cm, Original in Museo Veinte de Julio. Taken from Villegas,Mutis y la Real Expedición Botánica del Nuevo Reyno de Granada,1992.

“Mutisia Clematis” Painted by Salvador Rizo. Original in Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid. Taken from Villegas,Mutis y la Real Expedición Botánica del Nuevo Reyno de Granada,1992.

“Alexander von Humboldt in his library.” 1856 Oleograph by Eduard Hildebrandt. Original in Stiftung Stadtmuseum, Berlin. Taken from Amaya et al.,El Regreso de Humboldt,2001.

“Humanity, Knowledge and Economy”

Engraving by François Gérard for the frontispiece ofAtlas géographique et physique du nouveau continent. Paris: Schoell, 1814. Taken from facsimile edition, Amsterdam:Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1971, at the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Bogotá.

“Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hidrographica a Tabula” Taken from Mercator, Gerard Kremer et Hondius,Atlas Novus, Amsterdam, 1638, at the John Carter Brown Library, Providence.

“Allegory of Amerigo Vespucci and America” Engraving by Johannes Stradanus/Gallé. Illustration #1 of the Collection Nova Reperta. Taken from the selection of prints by Burndy Library, 1953, at the John Carter Brown Library, Providence.

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