Descriptive Systems in Hernán Cortés’s Second Relation Letter

Abstract

In this paper, I analyze the Second Letter of Relation, written on October 30, in 1520 by Hernán Cortés, a text
that is also part of a set of texts that Beatriz Pastor (1983) calls the "Narrative Discourse of the Conquest"
(p.7). To study the spatial configuration in the conqueror's tale, I first address the relationship between history
and fiction. In the second section, I present the general analysis of the descriptive systems in the fragments
referring to the spaces and places recreated in the text through the theoretical framework offered by Pimentel
(2001). In the third section, I address the use of the proper name in descriptions, as well as, I propose the term
descriptive analogy to refer to the form that Hernán Cortés uses when drawing the spatial dimension in his
discourse. Finally, I analyze the descriptive configuration using the values inherent in a semantic pattern in
general; to this end, I return to the concept of isotopy, coined by Greimas (1900). Finally, I confirm that the
textual treatment of geographical space made by the conqueror in his letter responds to the fact that this
dimension is very difficult for the Crown to ignore.