Abstract

SORIANO MUNOZ, Nuria. The borders of the otherness: the spanish translation of the Encyclopédie méthodique and the construction of the idea of America (1792). Estud. hist. novohisp [online]. 2018, n.59, pp.3-25.  Epub Nov 06, 2020. ISSN 2448-6922.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iih.24486922e.2018.59.62972.

The aim of this article is to analyze the representation of America which was made by the Spanish translators of the Encyclopédie méthodique (1792). In a time characterized by an increasingly complex society with regard to the times of the discovery, these writers portray a radical otherness. In addition, I pretend to contextualize the translation in its own time and link it with others historical texts -like as compendiums, introductions, translations- and historical actors. In this sense, my goal is to establish the relationships between geography, identity and literary activity. The main features of this hegemonic discourse reveals the ambiguities and tensions which were hidden behind otherness. This colonial narrative was fundamental in the process of invention of America, a process which was very diverse in its times, forms and materialities.

Keywords : otherness; translation; identity; geography; colonialism; Enlightenment.