Narrative Art in "La Florida del Inca"

Abstract

The Inca Garcilaso de la Vega was inspired, he informs us in his preface to La Florida del Inca, to relate the story of Hernando de Soto's expedition when after long conversations with .. un caballero, grande amigo mio, que se hall6 en esta jornada, y oy6ndole muchas y muy grandes hazafias que en ella hicieron asi espafioles como indios, me pareci6 cosa indigna y de mucha listima que obras tan heroicas que en el mundo han pasado quedasen en perpetuo olvido.'1* The desire to preserve the story of the expedition for posterity was not the only motive at work; the Inca was anxious to revive interest in the conquest of Florida Para que de hoy mis se esfuerce Espafia a la ganar y poblar, aunque sin lo principal, que es el aumento de nuestra Sancta Fe Cat61lica, no sea miis de para hacer colonias donde envie a habitar sus hijos .. . (Proemio). The Inca thought of his work as history, a record of fact not of fiction; he takes pains to assure his readers of the reliability of his chief source, an eyewitness now generally believed to be Gonzalo de Silvestre, and of the written reports of two other members of the expedition, Juan Coles and Alonso de Carmona. Finally he reports that a royal chronicler, probably Antonio de Herrera, had compared La Florida with statements made to the Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza by the survivors of the expedition in New Spain and had found Garcilaso's account to conform. This, he says. .. baste para que se crea que no escribimos ficciones, que no me fuera licito hacerlo habi'ndose de presentar esta relaci6n a toda la reptiblica de Espafia, la cual tendria raz6n de indignarse contra mi, si se la hubiese hecho siniestra y falsa (Proemio). Historians generally recognize the merit of La Florida and have shown that the Inca's account is basically a true report of the adventures and misadventures of de Soto and his men. Many, however, have warned against placing too much faith in the work; the Inca has been suspect as an historian because of a well marked tendency toward romance which transforms the reality he is reporting and lends his hi tory an air of fantasy. Some of this quality in La Florida may perhaps be attributed to the accounts Garcilaso had from