Abstract

In 1591, in a very innovative way, the doctor Juan de Cárdenas asserts in his Primera parte de los problemas y secretos maravillosos de las Indias, the superiority of the criollos (white people of Spanish origin, born in the American territory) over the Spaniards. His text considers American space as an element that “increases” the capacities of the body and, consequently, of the mind, making the criollos superior to the Spaniards. Cárdenas’ text appears to be a clear break with other texts that consider, on the contrary, the colonial space as a space that “degrades” or “weaks” the body, reducing its physical, intellectual and moral capacities. In contrast to theories that assert that the tropical climate “diminishes” the individual, Juan de Cárdenas develops the idea of a body (and a mind) with enhanced capacities. This paper will analyse the implications and the imaginary mechanisms of this discourse, and its links to a specific social and political context. At the end of the sixteenth century, Mexico and, more broadly, the viceroyalty of New Spain saw the emergence of a new social class, the Creoles, who were increasingly occupying prestigious positions. The theory of the “augmented body” of the criollo, elaborated by Juan de Cárdenas, consolidates the new social hierarchies that were emerging at the same time in colonial Mexico.