Synopses & Reviews
In the mid-eighteenth century, the French naturalist Buffon contended that the New World was in fact geologically new—that it had recently emerged from the waters—and that dangerous miasmas had caused all organic life on the continents to degenerate. In the “dispute of the New World” many historians, naturalists, and moral philosophers from Europe and the Americas (including Thomas Jefferson) sought either to confirm or refute Buffons views. This book maintains that the “dispute” was also a debate over historical authority: upon whose sources and facts should naturalists and historians reconstruct the history of the continent and its peoples?
The author traces the cultural processes that led early-modern intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic to question primary sources that had long been considered authoritative: Mesoamerican codices, early colonial Spanish chronicles, and travel accounts. In the process, he demonstrates how the writings of these critics led to the rise of the genre of conjectural history. The book also adds to the literature on nation formation by exploring the creation of specific identities in Spain and Spanish America by means of particular historical narratives and institutions. Finally, it demonstrates that colonial intellectuals went beyond mirroring or contesting European ideas and put forth daring and original critiques of European epistemologies that resulted in substantially new historiographical concepts.
Review
"A model of scholarship. . . . Explains how Latin America began to form, before independence, in colonial minds. The author leads the reader into beguiling labyrinths: Boturini's lost library, Palenque's ruins, Enlightenment rivalries."Times Literary Supplement
Review
In view of the breakthrough represented by the achievements of this book, strikingly heterodox and impressively persuasive interpretations of the dispute of the New World, it is of cardinal importance in several fields of history: Latin America, the Spanish monarchy, Enlightenment, historiography, and New World cultural encounters.”Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Oxford University
Review
"Refreshes our understanding of the colonial past and of the origins of the independence movements in the New World. A masterpiece of scholarly ingenuity."The Economist (Books of the Year)
Review
"The year's best monograph: a startling excavation in Latin America's mental pre-history."The Independent
Review
"This is an extraordinarily ambitious and illuminating book on the search for new historical narratives in eighteenth-century New Spain. It is a remarkable journey of discovery, a veritable history of historiography for the late colonial period."William B. Taylor, University of California, Berkeley
Synopsis
“In view of the breakthrough represented by the achievements of this book, strikingly heterodox and impressively persuasive interpretations of the ‘dispute of the New World, it is of cardinal importance in several fields of history: Latin America, the Spanish monarchy, Enlightenment, historiography, and New World cultural encounters.”—Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Oxford University
“Refreshes our understanding of the colonial past and of the origins of the independence movements in the New World. A masterpiece of scholarly ingenuity.”—The Economist (Books of the Year)
Synopsis
In the mid-eighteenth century, the French naturalist Buffon contended that the New World was in fact geologically new—that it had recently emerged from the waters—and that dangerous miasmas had caused all organic life on the continents to degenerate. In the “dispute of the New World” many historians, naturalists, and moral philosophers from Europe and the Americas (including Thomas Jefferson) sought either to confirm or refute Buffon’s views. This book maintains that the “dispute” was also a debate over historical authority: upon whose sources and facts should naturalists and historians reconstruct the history of the continent and its peoples?
The author traces the cultural processes that led early-modern intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic to question primary sources that had long been considered authoritative: Mesoamerican codices, early colonial Spanish chronicles, and travel accounts. In the process, he demonstrates how the writings of these critics led to the rise of the genre of conjectural history. The book also adds to the literature on nation formation by exploring the creation of specific identities in Spain and Spanish America by means of particular historical narratives and institutions. Finally, it demonstrates that colonial intellectuals went beyond mirroring or contesting European ideas and put forth daring and original critiques of European epistemologies that resulted in substantially new historiographical concepts.
Synopsis
Many eighteenth and nineteenth century historians, naturalists, and moral philosophers sought either to confirm or refute the view that the New World was in fact geologically new. Colonial intellectuals went beyond mirroring or contesting European ideas, and their critiques of European epistemologies resulted in substantially new historiographical concepts.
Synopsis
'In the \'dispute of the New World\' many eighteenth and nineteenth century historians, naturalists, and moral philosophers from Europe and the Americas sought either to confirm or refute the views of the French naturalist Buffon, who had contended that the New World was in fact geologically new. This book maintains that \'dispute\' was also a debate over historical authority. Colonial intellectuals went beyond mirroring or contesting European ideas and put forth daring and original critiques of European epistemologies that resulted in substantially new historiographical concepts.\n
'
Synopsis
An
Economist Book of the Year, 2001.
In the 18th century, a debate ensued over the French naturalist Buffon's contention that the New World was in fact geologically new. Historians, naturalists, and philosophers clashed over Buffon's view. This book maintains that the "dispute" was also a debate over historical authority: upon whose sources and facts should naturalists and historians reconstruct the history of the New World and its people. In addressing this question, the author offers a strikingly novel interpretation of the Enlightenment.
About the Author
Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra is Assistant Professor of History at SUNY-Buffalo.