Translation of the New World: intercultural dialogue or confrontation of cultures? Approach to a vision of the Other in the discovery and the Conquest chronicles

The objective of this paper is to show main difficulties in the intercultural translation process which has been taking place during the Discovery and the Conquest of the New World, in the 15th and 16th centuries. These historical facts are considered as a metaphor of translation in general, and letters, chronicles and histories of some Spanish authors of that period are analyzed as examples of interpretation / translation based on their eurocentric and Christian background. Finally, domestication of the New Spain culture is indicated as a main translation strategy and a confrontation of cultures rather than dialogue is stressed as a general feature of the cultural contact