The second part of the chronicle was very different from that of the first. One of the things that stood out the most is that Cabeza de Vaca reached/portrayed himself as a ‘god-like’ figure. He now also was a healer, peacemaker and an evangelizer. As a healer Cabeza de Vaca was not only able to cure the sick but also revive the dead; “A la noche se volvieron a sus casas, y dijeron que aquel que estaba muerto…se había levantado bueno y se había paseado, y comido, y hablado con ellos.” (p. 158) I wonder, did Cabeza de Vaca’s healing abilities continue to work when he returned to Europe?
Cabeza de Vaca mentions that at times the indigenous people would cry for him when he left to continue in his travels. Does this show that he truly had a strong and positive relationship with the community? Or is Cabeza de Vaca only trying to further advance his image to the reader?
Another interesting element to this part of Naufragios was how Cabeza de Vaca wrote about his attempts at evangelization. It seemed evident that evangelization was to be a big part of his exploration but I found the process seemed rushed in Cabeza de Vaca’s writing and his voyage. The entire issue of evangelization was cramped into a small few chapters towards the end and touched on only sporadically on a few pages throughout. The way Cabeza de Vaca wrote about evangelization in chapters XXXV and XXXVI it seemed as though he had left this issue too late into his voyage and now had to rush the topic before leaving.
8 comments:
Tus observaciones es muy central y importante cuando uno analiza el texto. Me interesa los siguientes dos puntos:
- como fue el proceso de curar los indios?
- es una ironia que hay tanto enfasis en la cultura y religion de los indios, y casi nunca de los espanoles. Especialmente cuando pensamos que ellos vinieron para convertir los indios al cristianismo!
Por ejemplo, me parecio que Castillo y Cabeza - los ambos pudieron curarse a mucha gente. Pero nunca explica el proceso. Como hubiera pensado el rey al leer esta parte de la cuenta? Hubiera creido que Vaca es un Jesus moderno?
Es interesante como hablas de la manera en que Cabeza de Vaca presenta si mismo - casi como Dios, casi todopoderoso. Con la capacidad de salvar, curar y resucitar los indigenas.
Me gusto mucho tu analisis de la segunda parte. Es cierto que en esta parte se nos hace mas dificil como lectores de confiar en Cabeza de Vaca porque no sabemos si al final es cierto lo que dice. Sobre todo, cuando habla de como las comunidades lloraban cuando lo veian irse.
Good point. His religious beliefs were no secret in the first 30 chapters so why leave his true connection to God to a few cramped chapters? Serena posted that perhaps he was just inventing miracles to seem closer to God which might explain why he didn't go into further detail with the evangelization but that's just one thought. :)
Nicely noted! Maybe the idea of evangelism was left off till the end because he wanted to get to know the cultures from the inside before indoctrinating them--I'd highly recommend a chapter from Tzvetan Todorov's book "The Conquest of America: The Question of the Other" (the chapter 'Durán, or the Hybridization of Cultures') to explore more about evangelism of the natives...
"I wonder, did Cabeza de Vaca's healing abilities continue to work when he returned to Europe?"
jajajaja -- que buen dicho! :) Sobre la transformacion de C de Vaca en los ultimos anos, seguro que habia conflicta de interes en sus escritos, aunque no se hubiera dado cuenta (o si). Y si a mi me parece un poco raro que al rey le hubiera gustado leer todo lo que escribio C de Vaca sin preguntando unas cosas de vez en cuando. Es una lastima que no tenemos historias escritas por los propios indios.
"I wonder, did Cabeza de Vaca's healing abilities continue to work when he returned to Europe?"
jajajaja -- que buen dicho! :) Sobre la transformacion de C de Vaca en los ultimos anos, seguro que habia conflicta de interes en sus escritos, aunque no se hubiera dado cuenta (o si). Y si a mi me parece un poco raro que al rey le hubiera gustado leer todo lo que escribio C de Vaca sin preguntando unas cosas de vez en cuando. Es una lastima que no tenemos historias escritas por los propios indios.
I absolutely agree. I think that what is most relevant to your point about Cabeza de Vaca doing so much self-propagandizing is the fact that this book is a letter to the King of Spain - who is essentially his employer! Cabeza de Vaca's first mission failed for reasons, as he likes to point out, which were not of his own doing. He needed to show how good he was at his new role, and as Jon told us it worked, his book was well recieved and he was sent on further voyages.
-Serena
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