We talked a lot in class this week about what and how de Lery maps in Voyage to the Land of Brazil. He not only physically maps their journey to Brazil but, as we said, maps the people he sees, the narrative arc of his travels, religious contact, and himself. I think that one of the most important things the de Lery’s narration gives us in a map of how different people define, categorize, and “map” cultural identities.

De Lery seems to define his own culture by the religion, the codes of appearance and language that in turn define class and status, and by how his culture is viewed by other people in the world. A lot of the beginning of the narrative focuses on their interactions with the Portuguese at sea — he points out the differences between the two groups and the reasons why they are at odds with one another. By pointing out these differences and conflicts of interest, de Lery defines the two cultures. The way he identifies the Portuguese (and himself) shows that a cultural identity is defined not only by its own people’s opinion of themselves, but also the opinions other people project onto a culture. Essentially, in this book we get a view of another country through the eyes of an outsider who tries his best to define the culture by his observations alone. All the while, though, we know that from the native people’s eyes, their own cultural identity – and de Lery’s – might be defined by different cultural aspects, and therefor look significantly different.

We’ve said this in class before, in some way or another, but one thing that struck me most about this book was that de Lery has specific ways of observing and understanding different cultures. To identify another culture, we impose our own values onto this new group of people. And so, I’m curious to see what this narrative would look like from the point of view of the natives themselves.