Date range: November 2023 – February 2024
MA in Hispanic Studies
Luis Enrique Moguel Aquino
Naturaleza, indígenas e imperio en Noticias de Nutka (1793) de José Mariano Mociño
This study, which offers an interpretation of Noticias de Nutka (1793) written by José Mariano Mociño, focuses on the representation of nature and natives of Nootka and analyses the apparent contradiction between the goals of the scientific mission and Mociño’s recommendation for the European powers to prevent colonizing the Northwest coast. By discussing those elements, the thesis explores the relation between the discourses of natural history and Spanish imperialism at the end of the Eighteenth Century. The interpretative proposal developed by Mary Louise Pratt in her book Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation serves as the main theoretical framework for the analysis presented here, although I show how it needs to be modified when applied to Mociño’s context. In sum, the thesis reveals the “colonial ambiguity” that distinguishes Mociño’s positionalities in relation to his subject of study and Spanish imperial expansion, considering that feature as part of the construction of scientific discourse and Creole identity in New Spain.
