The Poetics of Empire in the Indies: Prophecy and Imitation in La Ara [Paperback]

In The Poetics of Empire in the Indies, James Nicolopulos investigates literary representations of sixteenth-century Iberian colonialism and imperialism by analyzing Alonso de Ercillas La Araucana, a narrative poem that recounts the initial phases of the Spanish conquest of Chile in the mid-sixteenth century, and Luis de Camoenss Os Lus?adas, the epic celebration of early Portuguese maritime expansion in the Indian Ocean and beyond.

Delving into the epic traditions of the Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance periods, Nicolopulos outlines practices of imitation within the two poems, focusing specifically on the employment of epic models in La Araucana. Having made powerful connections to Ercillas literary and critical predecessors, Nicolopulos demonstrates that the contemporaneous publication of Os Lus?adas further affected the content and presentation of La Araucana. In so doing, he elucidates the rivalriespoetic, political, commercialbetween Spain and Portugal during this age of expansion.

An investigation into imitation and representation in colonial texts, The Poetics of Empire in the Indies offers new connections between two early literary representations of Iberian imperialism.