Chapter 3
Bartolomé de Las Casas’ Breve Relación de la Destrucción de Las Indias (Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies) (1552) in translation
The politics of linguistic and cultural appropriation
Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1542), written by a Spanish Dominican friar, was among the most controversial texts of the sixteenth century. It aimed to expose atrocities committed by Spanish conquistadors against the native population of the New World and prompt a review of the abuse of human rights. Spain’s Protestant enemies adapted it in translation into the so-called “Black Legend” of Spain as a colonial power, through which future generations would view Spain for centuries. A close reading of English, French and Dutch editions demonstrates how it was further misappropriated by Protestant powers to validate their own, similar, ambitions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as inverse images of those of their common enemy, Catholic Spain.
Article outline
- 1.
Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1552)
- 2.
The Spanish Colonie (1583)
- 3.
Le miroir de la tyrannie Espagnole perpetrée aux Indes Occidentales (1620)
- 4.
The Tears of the Indians (1656)
- 5.Conclusion
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References