Inventing the Caribbean: Columbus’s Creation of the Other Essay

Inventing the Caribbean Columbuss asylum of the new(prenominal) Columbuss invasion of the Caribbean in 1492 brought Native Ameri derriere and European market-gardenings together for the first-year time in a ball over encounter that reshaped the worldviews of both groups. In The Conquest of America The misgiving of the Other, Tzvetan Todorov seeks to make the ways in which the Spanish worldview shaped Columbuss intelligence of the natives of Hispaniola, as he make an early(a) from his knowledge sense of self. In Todorovs model, the other is be in terms of its correspondence, or leave out thereof, to different facets of the self, including culture, language, physiognomy, religion, and knowledge furthermore, the other is valued, distanced, and understood in relation to the presumed supremacy of the self. In this way, the other can only be seen as an liberal state of oneself and never as a distinct entity judged according to its own value and defined on it s own terms (Todorov 42). Todorov explores Columbuss letters and journals, various first-hand accounts of the discovery, and the literary works of Las Casas in order to understand the ways in which the distinct self of the native population was transformed into an other, whose individuality depended on European values to define it.Todorov argues that Columbuss self (and, consequently, the other, which he created in the frame of that self) is defined by three spheres the divine, nature, and humans. each(prenominal) of these spheres is integral to Columbuss worldview and colors his perception of that which is outside his world. in spite of appearance these spheres of perspective, Columbuss identity is shaped by Catholicism, a fear for nature, and European society and culture particularly that of Portu... ...her and reveals the complex process of suppression and projection, which attempted to impose the superannuated World view on the raw World in the one-sixteenth centu ry Caribbean.Bibliography1. Columbus, Christopher. The Journal of Christopher Columbus. New York Burt Franklin, 1968.2. Knight, Franklin W. The Caribbean The coevals of a Fragmented Nationalism, second edition. New York Oxford University Pres, 1990.3. Sider, Gerald. When Parrots Learn to Talk, and Why They fundamentt Domination, Deception, and Self-Deception in Indian-White Relations. Comparative Studies in Society and story 29, no.1 (1987), 3-23.4. Steward, Julian H. and Louis C. Faron. Native Peoples of southernmost America. New York McGraw Hill, 1959.5. Todorov, Tzvetan. The Conquest of America The Question of the Other. New York Harper and quarrel Publishers, 1984. Inventing the Caribbean Columbuss Creation of the Other EssayInventing the Caribbean Columbuss Creation of the Other Columbuss invasion of the Caribbean in 1492 brought Native American and European cultures together for the first time in a startling encounter t hat reshaped the worldviews of both groups. In The Conquest of America The Question of the Other, Tzvetan Todorov seeks to understand the ways in which the Spanish worldview shaped Columbuss perception of the natives of Hispaniola, as he fashioned an other from his own sense of self. In Todorovs model, the other is defined in terms of its correspondence, or lack thereof, to different facets of the self, including culture, language, physiognomy, religion, and knowledge furthermore, the other is valued, distanced, and understood in relation to the presumed supremacy of the self. In this way, the other can only be seen as an imperfect state of oneself and never as a distinct entity judged according to its own values and defined on its own terms (Todorov 42). Todorov explores Columbuss letters and journals, various first-hand accounts of the discovery, and the writings of Las Casas in order to understand the ways in which the distinct self of the native population was transformed in to an other, whose identity depended on European values to define it.Todorov argues that Columbuss self (and, consequently, the other, which he created in the image of that self) is defined by three spheres the divine, nature, and humans. Each of these spheres is integral to Columbuss worldview and colors his perception of that which is outside his world. Within these spheres of perspective, Columbuss identity is shaped by Catholicism, a reverence for nature, and European society and culture particularly that of Portu... ...her and reveals the complex process of suppression and projection, which attempted to impose the Old World view on the New World in the sixteenth century Caribbean.Bibliography1. Columbus, Christopher. The Journal of Christopher Columbus. New York Burt Franklin, 1968.2. Knight, Franklin W. The Caribbean The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism, 2nd edition. New York Oxford University Pres, 1990.3. Sider, Gerald. When Parrots Learn to Talk, and Why They Cant Domination, Deception, and Self-Deception in Indian-White Relations. Comparative Studies in Society and History 29, no.1 (1987), 3-23.4. Steward, Julian H. and Louis C. Faron. Native Peoples of South America. New York McGraw Hill, 1959.5. Todorov, Tzvetan. The Conquest of America The Question of the Other. New York Harper and Row Publishers, 1984.