SOURCE: “Some Observations on the Style and Language of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca,” in Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: The Forgotten Chronicler, Ediciones Universal, 1975, pp. 125-27.

[In the following excerpt, Fernández praises the narrative quality and rich detail of the Relación,which he maintains amply compensate for the author's poor organization and lack of literary sophistication.]

THE “RELACION” AS NARRATIVE

As one of the earliest records of Spanish penetration into the North American continent, the Relación of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca has a certain literary value regardless of its style and form. This will be demosntrated below.

The Relación is not an example of stylistic perfection like the Florida of Garcilaso the Inca. The author of the Relación had a wealth of material and could have spun a fantastic tale, but it was not his intention to do do; Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was concerned with history and chronicle and that is what he wrote.

If one studies the Relación closely, one can conclude that Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was not an educated man. He probably had an average education for his day, in as much as he served as treasurer of the expedition and was appointed an ‘alguazil mayor.’ There is no record of any university attendance. Since we find many lapses in grammatical form, we conclude he was not a scholar. Despite his training he produced the Relación, a genial work. The literary merit of his chronicle lies in the fact that he does not adorn, does not pick and choose, and does not utilize rhetorical devices. Had he written a chronicle possessing the composition, the unity, the artistic loftiness of other chronicles of the Spanish Golden Age, he might not have provided one of the most informative and thorough accounts of the New World.

If we examine his chronicle, we notice that Núñez Cabeza de Vaca is not an organized writer. He often wanders away from the main narrative to discuss other matters. These other matters, however, such as description of the land and customs of the inhabitants, he considers to be important to the reader. Thus they cannot be divorced from the central flow of the narrative.

One also notices that his chapters are not well organized and the titles often are not proportionate to the narrative. One can also observe that instead of depending upon short, concise lines, as did Garcilaso the Inca, Núñez Cabeza de Vaca depends on long paragraphs which are connected by the conjunction ‘y.’ This is due to the fact that he was not a stylist, but a simple soldier.

The literary value of the Relación lies in the fact that Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a writer who wrote for the reader, with a style which is rapid, rich in details, and yet impressive. The reader will find himself carried along as if he were part of the narrative. Yet the chronicler is not inclined to sacrifice historical accuracy for the purpose of arousing emotion in the reader's mind.

Regarding the character portrayal in the Relación, the reader must become the analytical figure who has to investigate and interpret motives and feelings. This is due to the fact that instead of commenting directly upon the many characters that appear in the Relación Núñez Cabeza de Vaca rather depends on the words and deeds of each individual to give some insight into his nature.

The Relación, like the majority of the chronicles of the New World, is an autobiographical account; yet the author is overly modest in the use of ‘yo.’ Throughout the narrative there is little reference to his specific deeds or leadership. The reader, however, will soon find that Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, although self-effacing, is the central figure of his narrative. Proof of this lies in the fact that as soon as he was reunited with his companions, things began to happen and as a result they were able to escape from their ordeal and reach their destination. Yet he never takes credit for their success.

It may be argued that the author of the Relación was not concerned with the problems of geography and chronology. Regarding this aspect, we must point out that Núñez Cabeza de Vaca did not have any access to writing materials; therefore, he had to depend entirely upon his memory and, as a result, there are some deficiencies in the Relación.

Thus we agree with Enrique Anderson Imbert that the value of the Relación does not lie in its being an account of heroic deeds performed by Spaniards, nor in its depiction of opulent Indian civilizations, but rather in its narrative quality.¹

SOME OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING THE LANGUAGE AND ORTHOGRAPHY OF THE RELACION

An accurate and thorough study of the linguistic nature of Núñez Cabeza de Vaca's Relación would necessarily entail a study of the original copy of the 1555 edition. … The present study is based on the edition of 1906, made by Serrano y Sanz, who does not provide details of his method of transcription and editing. Thus any attempt to describe the language of the Relación, based on Serrano's rendering would be full of difficulties, and there is also the possibility of inaccuracy. Nonetheless, we have made several observations on features which are worth noting.

Since Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was not a highly cultured individual, we can expect forms and orthographical variants that reflect actual pronunciation. Indeed, since the orthographical system was still rather loosely structured during that period, we can expect this in some measure not only from the authors, but also from the copyists and printers of that time. …

OTHER OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING THE RELACION

Throughout the chronicle, as the reader may have noticed, there are frequent grammatical errors. For instance, there is disagreement in forming the plural such as: “… nos dieron frisoles y muchas calabaças para comer e traer agua, y mantas de vaca y otras cosa” [p.114]. “El me respondio que ya no era tiempo de mandar vnos a otro” [p. 43]. “… les hizieron huyr e dexar sus casas y arcos con todas sus hazienda” [p. 93]. “Guardan las espinas del pescado que comen e de las culebras … para molerlo despues todo e comer el poluo dello” [p. 70]. “… esto eran cuentas y almagra y algunas taleguillas de plata. Nosotros dimoslo luego a los indios …” [p. 102]. “los de atras ningun caso hazen de oro y plata, ni hallan que pueda auer prouecho dello” [p. 126].

Even his participles do not agree with nouns which are in the plural. “… y era necessario que anduuiessemos siete o ocho hombres abraçado …” [p. 10]. “… cogimos muchas hojas de tunas e assamosla aquella noche” [p. 89].

The above sentences, which are ungrammatical, are either a product of carelessness on the part of the chronicler, or perhaps his copyist. At any rate, we cannot discount the possibility that Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, being an Andalusian, may have had the tendency to drop the final ‘s’ on words which should have been in the plural.

There is also the tendency to drop the final ‘n’ of the third person plural, although it does not occur so frequently: “… y que donde llegassemos robassen ellos y saquease lo que los otros tenian porque assi era costumbre” [p. 104]. “… a aquellos que tan bien nos rescebian se hazia” [p. 101].

The chronicler is also confused as to the gender, for in two instances he states “Comian tunas e piñones; ay por aquella tierra pinos chicos y las piñas dellas son como hueuos pequeños” [p. 106]. “… yo viendo esta crueldad e enojado dello …” [p. 113].

INDIAN WORDS

The chroniclers of the Indies were responsible for introducing a few Indian words which later were incorporated into the Spanish language. A few of these, which are now part of the Spanish language are found in Núñez Cabeza de Vaca's Relación. These are: ‘buhio,’ also spelled by the chronicler ‘buio,’ which in modern Spanish is ‘bohío;’ ‘areyto’ which was the Arawak Indian word for feast and is now spelled in modern Spanish as ‘areíto;’ the word ‘canoa’ which was an Arawak term retained in the original form in Spanish; and, the word ‘tuna’ which is spelled the same in modern Spanish.

As the reader may have observed, the purpose of Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was not to write a chronicle which was exempt from imperfections, but rather to give an account of the many things he noticed in the mysterious territory known as ‘la Florida.’

Note

1. Enrique Anderson Imbert, Spanish American Literature: A History, trans. by John V. Falconieri (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1963), p. 26.