The Indies of the Setting Sun
How Early Modern Spain Mapped the Far East as the Transpacific West
Seiten
2022
University of Chicago Press (Verlag)
978-0-226-82001-9 (ISBN)
University of Chicago Press (Verlag)
978-0-226-82001-9 (ISBN)
Padrón reveals the evolution of Spain’s imagining of the New World as a space in continuity with Asia.
Narratives of Europe’s westward expansion often tell of how the Americas came to be known as a distinct landmass, separate from Asia and uniquely positioned as new ground ripe for transatlantic colonialism. But this geographic vision of the Americas was not shared by all Europeans. While some imperialists imagined North and Central America as undiscovered land, the Spanish pushed to define the New World as part of a larger and eminently flexible geography that they called las Indias, and that by right, belonged to the Crown of Castile and León. Las Indias included all of the New World as well as East and Southeast Asia, although Spain’s understanding of the relationship between the two areas changed as the realities of the Pacific Rim came into sharper focus. At first, the Spanish insisted that North and Central America were an extension of the continent of Asia. Eventually, they came to understand East and Southeast Asia as a transpacific extension of their empire in America called las Indias del poniente, or the Indies of the Setting Sun.
The Indies of the Setting Sun charts the Spanish vision of a transpacific imperial expanse, beginning with Balboa’s discovery of the South Sea and ending almost a hundred years later with Spain’s final push for control of the Pacific. Padrón traces a series of attempts—both cartographic and discursive—to map the space from Mexico to Malacca, revealing the geopolitical imaginations at play in the quest for control of the New World and Asia.
Narratives of Europe’s westward expansion often tell of how the Americas came to be known as a distinct landmass, separate from Asia and uniquely positioned as new ground ripe for transatlantic colonialism. But this geographic vision of the Americas was not shared by all Europeans. While some imperialists imagined North and Central America as undiscovered land, the Spanish pushed to define the New World as part of a larger and eminently flexible geography that they called las Indias, and that by right, belonged to the Crown of Castile and León. Las Indias included all of the New World as well as East and Southeast Asia, although Spain’s understanding of the relationship between the two areas changed as the realities of the Pacific Rim came into sharper focus. At first, the Spanish insisted that North and Central America were an extension of the continent of Asia. Eventually, they came to understand East and Southeast Asia as a transpacific extension of their empire in America called las Indias del poniente, or the Indies of the Setting Sun.
The Indies of the Setting Sun charts the Spanish vision of a transpacific imperial expanse, beginning with Balboa’s discovery of the South Sea and ending almost a hundred years later with Spain’s final push for control of the Pacific. Padrón traces a series of attempts—both cartographic and discursive—to map the space from Mexico to Malacca, revealing the geopolitical imaginations at play in the quest for control of the New World and Asia.
Ricardo Padrón is associate professor of Spanish at the University of Virginia and the author of The Spacious Word: Cartography, Literature, and Empire in Early Modern Spain, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
List of Figures
Introduction
1 The Map behind the Curtain
2 South Sea Dreams
3 Pacific Nightmares
4 Shipwrecked Ambitions
5 Pacific Conquests
6 The Location of China
7 The Kingdom of the Setting Sun
8 The Anxieties of a Paper Empire
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Works Cited
Index
| Erscheinungsdatum | 08.06.2022 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 35 halftones |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Gewicht | 481 g |
| Themenwelt | Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918) |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geografie / Kartografie | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-226-82001-7 / 0226820017 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-226-82001-9 / 9780226820019 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
Giordano Bruno - ein ketzerisches Leben
Buch | Hardcover (2024)
C.H.Beck (Verlag)
CHF 41,85
das dramatische 16. Jahrhundert
Buch | Hardcover (2024)
Rowohlt Berlin (Verlag)
CHF 47,60
