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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Columbus and the Making of the Savage Other, June 29, 2002
In The Conquest of America Todorov delves deeply into the dark consequences (intended and unintended) of the European discovery of the Americas and represents the first important study of the influence of religious belief on the interactions beginning with Columbus with the "savage" Other. While many people attempt to dismiss the religious aspect of this relationship, but as Todorov shows it is central to understanding the dynamics of European conquest and the ultimate fate of the "New World's" indigenous inhabitants. Both in his letters and his diary Christopher Columbus repeatedly expresses his primary purpose as a religious one. Perhaps, due to the obvious problems for the Catholic Church that this represents this motive has taken a backseat to the supposed thirst for gold that has overshadowed the religious roots of this horrific tragedy ever since. An important aspect of Todorov's thesis is his well-supported claim that it was precisely the claim to European racial superiority that the Christianity strongly reinforced[es] provided justification for the actions of the Spanish, even in its most severe manifestation. In fact, Todorov invokes the unimaginably horrible image of Catholic priests bashing Indian baby's heads against rocks, ostensibly to save them from damnation to Hell, which their "savage" culture would have otherwise consigned them to.
The logic of this deed and other like them illustrates the pernicious influence of Christianity in the Colonial project, which lies at the root of the hegemonic self-image of Western experience-first defined from the perspective of Columbus and Cortez. If religion was a guiding principle in the lives of the conquerors, as Todorov points out, so to was it for the conquered, especially in the case of the Aztecs. Baffled by the paradox of the famous story concerning Cortez and his several hundred Conquistador's ability to defeat the entire Aztec empire, which numbered at least several million, Todorov reveals that it was primarily due to Montezuma's belief that Cortez and his party was Gods, which led to his reluctance to raise an army in opposition. In the middle section of the book Todorov gives a detailed analysis of this stunning historic event and shows that Cortez' victory was not necessarily due to any great military achievement, instead it was mostly the result of the Aztec's refusal to mount any kind of a effective defense until it was too late. Thus, it was Montezuma's indecision, born of his own religious belief that led to the sudden collapse of the Aztec empire. In the final third of the book Todorov investigates the impact that these events have had on the subsequent writings on the subject. In particular, he focuses on the work of three writers, all Spanish, but among the first generations of Europeans native to South America. These works that are primarily only known to scholars in the field offer many surprises to the contemporary reader, showing that there was a far more open view of the non-European "Other" expressed by those who lived among them in the waning days after conquest. Perhaps, that is one of the most insidious luxuries of victory-the ability to show compassion for the defeated, but always, yet always too late. Todorov's work is an important work, which would be of great interest to students of literature, history, cultural/indigenous studies and post-colonial theory. After reading this book Columbus Day and all that it necessarily represents will never be seen in the same way again.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Densely intellectual, but thought provoking, November 30, 2001
This study of cultural confrontation between the Spanish and the Indian peoples of Central America and the Caribbean, subtitled "The Question of the Other," is a true work of scholarship. The author, who has read deeply into primary sources in Spanish, explains the intellectual questions he is addressing, particularly concerning cross-cultural communication and the use of symbols. He concludes that the Spanish advantage lay more in those areas than it did in military technology. While the book is predictably critical of Spanish treatment of the Indians, it also persuades the reader that Hernan Cortez was a very clever man. Illustrations from the period are interspersed throughout the text. This book requires sustained attention, and is not for the casual reader. Michael Michaud, Vienna, Austria
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24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Conquistador Mythology, February 25, 2003
Tvetan Todorov's The Conquest of America: The Question of the Other perpetuates a number of the myths that surround the Spanish collision with the "New World".Todorov reinforces the myth that the Aztecs believed the Spanish were gods, an idea that springs from the accounts of Diaz and from the earliest Indian accounts, all which were written over 30 years after the described events, by people without access to the inner workings of the Mexican court. The Indian accounts, written under Catholic supervision, do not relate to the "what happened" as much as they do to the "what should have happened." These Indians would not have known what happened and would have been well-versed in the accounts of their Spanish masters. The idea that Montezuma thought they were gods seems to be a good way for the Indians to explain what they did not understand. Mistranslations of Indian words also account for this myth. Teotl, mistranslated by the Spanish to mean "god", more closely means "weird" or "strange". Todorov relies heavily on this myth to advance his thesis of miscommunication. Todorov also falls into the trap of believing that the Aztecs were frozen by their obsession with signs and with astrology. He believes that the Aztecs were dominated by a past-oriented tradition whereas the Spanish were the only participants able to adapt. He argues that the Spanish use of written words gave them an ability that the oral-tradition based Aztecs did not. Reality, however, suggests that the Aztecs were very good at improvisation, especially during battle. Within the first few encounters with their Spanish enemies, the Aztecs learned how to beat horseman, how to avoid being hit by cannons, and that the Spanish were not impressed with tactics designed to frighten and demoralize the enemy. Montezuma's lack of quick action does not mean he was frozen with fear, or that he was waiting for signs from his astrologers, instead it seems to be exactly what how a man who could put tens of thousands of soldiers in the field would react to a small party of Spanish. His gifts to the Spanish were not symbolic of his wishing to buy their friendship, but were a statement of Montezuma's power and wealth. Todorov's book is important because it raises issues about how the self discovers the other. But it's advancement of outdated myths cannot be ignored.
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