History of European Idea?, Vol 6, No 4. pp. 385-404, 1985.

Printed in Great fktarn

THE FIRST VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD:

FROM PIGAFETTA TO GARCiA MliRQUEZ

HUMBERTOE. ROBLES*

venient annis
saecula seris, quibus Oceanus
vi~cuia rerum laxet et &ens
potent tellus Tethysque mvos
detegat orbus net sit terris
ultimn Thute.

Seneca, Medea, II. 374-79

Antonio-Pigafetta’s account of the first voyage around the world (1519-22)

is of manifold significance. On the one hand, it is an allusive compendium of
cartographic, historical, political, religious and economic components. On
the other, it transcends its time and establishes itself as a primordial text that
directly or indirectly has affected the interpretation of the New World by such
varied authors as Peter Martyr, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Vito, De Pauw and
others. Moreover, Pigafetta’s relation of Magellan’s voyage is equally
germane to the understanding of apposite cultural and asesthetic concerns
and practices evident among some distinguished contemporary Latin Amer-
ican writers, not the least of whom is Gabriel Garcia MBrquez. Thus
envisaged, Pigafetta’s text is not merely a document where one can examine
the historical contact of early sixteenth-century Europe and a ‘wider world’,
but also one where the seeds of modern literary practices and conventions of
Spanish America can be discerned.’

Understandably, much ink and erudition have been expended on the

problem of the textual history of Pigafetta’s Relation. The four extant
manuscripts, three in French and one in the Venetian dialect of Italian, have
been subjected to lengthy debates as to accuracy, dates and the question of
the language in which Pigafetta first rendered his account.’ Nationalism
appears to have inevitably entered in reference to this last issue,-’ A similar
reason seems to be the cause of the contention between those who bestow
preeminence for the overall accomplishment of the expedition to either
Magellan or El Cano. Symptomatic of the polemics and even provincialism
that have surrounded Pigafetta’s work was the publication by the editorial

*D~part~~nt of Spanish and Portuguese. Northwestern University. Evanston. IL 60201.

U.S.A.

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