Mariano Picón-Salas’ A Cultural History of Spanish America, which appeared recently, was published under the Latin-American Translation Program of the Association of American University Presses. A cultural rather than a political narrative, it consists of a number of lectures given by the author at various universities in the United States. The topics to which he addresses himself with unusual cogency and clarity, pruned of scholarly impediments, are: the Indian legacy, the first impact, the Spanish conquest, from European to a mixed culture, the coming of the seventeenth century, the baroque of the Indies, baroque learning, eighteenth-century Jesuitic humanism, and the eve of the struggle for independence. Picón-Salas’ thesis is that heritage played the dominant role in the historical evolution of the Hispanic Republics during their colonial period. Spain transported to her colonies the medieval dream of universal empire, a social structure fundamentally feudal, unchallenged Catholicism, and learning characterized by scholasticism and authoritarianism using Latin for its universal medium. A large population of sedentary Indians who had developed diverse characteristics on being exposed to varied environments were ready to be exploited and fused with the Spaniard in the formation of the mestizo spirit. The social organization of the Aztec and Inca made relatively easy the continuance of feudalism. The Hispanic Conquest of America brought about a collision of races, economic attitudes, and contrasting ways of life that still must be taken into account when seeking to understand the problems of social relationships in every country of Latin America. Miscegenation was far more than just mixing of blood and race. The dissolution of the Indian empires and adoption of Spanish as the language of communication established a powerful bond of family relationship which accounts for a common historical culture even though the political cohesion was ruptured through the founding of independent republics in the nineteenth century. Two cultures existed side by side, especially in Mexico and Peru: one was aristocratic, constituted by descendants of the founders and the wealthiest families, and the higher secular clergy ; and the other, of a humbler and more utilitarian nature, developed by the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians. Lyric and epic poetry were the favorite literary forms of the European minority during the sixteenth century. The friars early originated a Christian-Indian pedagogy for proselyting while collecting material for their writings on Indian culture and seeking means to better the lot of the subjugated peoples. Uprisings of the Indian masses afflicted Spanish America on various occasions. The Church was usually at odds with the state. The Tribunal of the Inquisition was of concern for both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. Under Philip II the Indies suffered the same deterioration as Spain.
The author’s interpretations of what transpired in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are especially discerning, emphasizing constantly the common Hispanic roots and the genuinely typical. The dawning of the baroque reflected interest in the exotic and colorful geography of Spanish America. Learning consisted in piling up data rather than in making a synthesis. The colonial mind, having been steeped in scholastic philosophy, lacked the historical spirit or consciousness of change. Two unique figures were Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Juan del Valle y Caviedes, who gave expression to a more personal and tragic facet of literary life. Jesuitic humanism helped to bridge the gap between the baroque age and the revolutionary period. In the closing years of the eighteenth century, colonial life underwent a clash of ideas and a painful conflict between generations. This translation, equally as elegant in style as the original version, possesses the prime merit of faithfulness, a tribute to Irving A. Leonard’s mastery of the two languages; it preserves all the distinctive characteristics of the original. The selected bibliography added at the end of the volume, as well as the translator’s note on the circulation of books of all kinds in the colonies, are very helpful.