Lo sentido y lo narrado: el valor de la experiencia en la escritura de la Historia general y natural de las Indias de Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, 1535-1549

Objective/Context: This article analyzes Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo’s Historia general y natural de las Indias to evaluate the relationship between “sensitive experience” and “historical writing” in the context of the 16th-century construction of the Indian Chronicle. Methodology: The study develops a discursive analysis focused on the chronicle, understanding it as a product inscribed in a place of production that determines it in narrative terms. Here, the theories on the writing of history and the “Historical Experience” developed by Michel de Certeau and Frank Ankersmit are closely followed, allowing us to establish the discursive value of the “experiential” in the Oviedo chronicle. Originality: This study presents an alternative vision concerning the historiography focused on the chronicles of conquest, which has seen a sign of nascent modern scientism in Fernández de Oviedo’s work. By analyzing the chronicle from the perspective of the rhetorical discourse, the article questions its value as a source of “truths” about the process of conquest and colonization of America. This allows us to rethink the textual element, understanding it no longer as a “transmitter of experiences” but as the product of a “narrative experience” that transforms what is observed into discursive matter. Conclusions: Taking into account the above, we propose that the Historia general y natural de las Indias does not reveal “sensitive experiences” based on purely empirical acts but, on the contrary, constitutes a significant discourse of such “experiences.” The chronicler’s political vision and conditions are imposed here to turn reality into a rhetorical matter, giving life to an imperial-style discourse that establishes a narrative image of the New World experience.