“On such a full sea are we now afloat:” Travelling through Oceans, Writings and Images in Early Modern Times

Abstract

For centuries, the Western notion of exoticism and otherness comprehended a relatively limited space, whose epicentre was the Mediterranean Sea. With the maritime expansion on the Atlantic, initiated by the Iberian nations in the fifteenth century and afterwards undertaken by other European countries, deep changes would occur in every domain. Horizons were broadened, geographically, and conceptually, to an unprecedented scale, and an immensity of amazing realities was disclosed. Vessels went far beyond the boundaries of a preconceived universe, at a unique time when innovation was wisely amalgamated with tradition. In the aftermath of such an important human conquest, a natural urge was felt to register what was being witnessed. The complex notions of otherness —as well as of selfhood and identity— became consequently rather striking, once they involved not only the Europeans’ interaction with the New World (and vice versa), but also the interaction among themselves, while disputing the oceans, the recently found territories and the natural resources. Early modern texts, many displaying invaluable illustrations, proliferated and would constitute important data, both on the maritime expansion and the worldview. Bearing in mind the early modern context and the different stages of the Discoveries, this essay is focused on diverse written and iconographic works by European authors of heterogeneous back- grounds— cartographers, engravers, travellers, courtiers, scholars— and on their contribution to the new understanding of the world.