El primer capítulo en la Historia de la conquista de México. Razones para no escribir una «Historia general de Indias»

Abstract

Antonio de Solís, once he had been appointed «Cronista Mayor», was instructed to continue the writing of the «general history of Latin America». After 25 years of hard work, however, he submitted something quite different from what he had been asked for. Solís chooses in his Historia de la conquista de México the particular instead of the general, rewrites events that were already well-known, rejects official models and selects an ending which is in no way the end of the story. This article investigates the explanations given by the author —which are particularly numerous in the first chapter— and the way his choices seem to have been influenced by various factors:Aristotelian poetics, Solís’ knowledge of drama, baroque aesthetics and the official guideline.