The Haunting of the Spanish Empire. (Proto-)Gothic Elements in Cabeza de Vaca’s Naufragios and Garcilaso de la Vega’s La Florida del Inca

Abstract

This is the story of a double haunting. On one hand, Spanish explorers and conquerors (Conquistadores) were immersed into a totally new and unknown territory when they achieved the task of going further north of Mexico and, sometimes, what they found was terrifying; on the other hand, their own actions contributed to the creation of an appreciation of Europeans as quasi-demons. The two selected texts are good accounts of this double haunting. Both beginning in the Florida Peninsula and going deeper into the country, Cabeza de Vaca’s Naufragios [Shipwrecks] and Garcilaso’s La Florida del Inca, deal with supernatural events, magical practices, kidnapping and torture and, specially, the astonishment of the Spaniards when they had to confront and were haunted by the uncanny.