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Nature, Nation and Nostalgia: Narratives of Natural History in S panish and B ritish A merica (1750‐1800)
Author(s) -
COWIE HELEN,
GRAY KATHRYN
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal for eighteenth‐century studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.129
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1754-0208
pISSN - 1754-0194
DOI - 10.1111/1754-0208.12082
Subject(s) - natural history , narrative , creole language , natural (archaeology) , identity (music) , credibility , history , period (music) , literature , art , aesthetics , political science , philosophy , archaeology , law , linguistics , medicine
This article studies natural history narratives in the eighteenth‐century A tlantic world. Focusing on two key texts, J uan de V elasco's H istoria del R eyno de Q uito and H ector S t J ohn de C rèvecoeur's L etters from an A merican F armer , it examines the close relationship between natural knowledge and national identity. We consider some of the tensions that emerged between E uropean and A merican writers of natural history during this period and situate these narratives of natural history within a wider critique of travel‐writing and representations of the A mericas. We focus, in particular, on the textual devices employed to confer credibility on C reole natural histories.