TITLE: The Map in Garb: Clothing and Cartography in Spanish America
SPEAKER: Alexander Hidalgo
EVENT DATE: 08/19/2010
FORMAT: Video + Captions
RUNNING TIME: 46 minutes
TRANSCRIPT: View Transcript (link will open in a new window)
DESCRIPTION:
From the moment of contact, clothing (or lack thereof) became a central element in the construction of European identity in relation to the New World. This presentation examines expressions of dress in European maps, atlases, travel literature, and ephemeral art. It contrasts these Western depictions with representations produced by Amerindians in manuscript maps from central and southern Mexico. An analysis of these two distinct bodies of evidence reveals the tension between ideology, Spanish imperial policy, and everyday practice while highlighting early constructions of race, gender, and status in the Americas.
Speaker Biography: Alexander Hidalgo was Kislak Fellow in American Studies in 2009 and the author of "The Imaginary Frontier: Cartography and Ideology in New Spain, 1600-1800."
