Travelogues of Latin America are published accounts describing Latin America and the Caribbean by foreign travelers from early Iberian conquest to the early 20th century. [1] [2] The Spanish and Portuguese monarchs' efforts to restrict non-Iberian's access to Latin America during the colonial era mean that most of the works published before 1800 were by authorized Spanish or Portuguese chroniclers, or European Catholic missionaries. [3] However, the popularity of Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt's twenty-one volume account of his travels in Latin America marked a turning point. Starting in the 1820s, most independent Latin American governments welcomed increased exchanges with European visitors, increasing the number of German, British, French, and U.S. travelogues published. [3] Many foreigners were interested in economic opportunities available in Latin America. [4] At least 394 travelogues describing Mexico were published between 1810 and 1910. [5] For Brazil, European and U.S. visitors published at least 158 travelogues between 1800 and 1899. [6]
While scholars including Marjorie Agosín, June E. Hahner, and Miguel A. Cabañas have noted that these works replicate many of the biases of their authors, they are an important sources in the study of Latin American history. [7] [8] [9]
Latin America is a cultural concept denoting the Americas where Romance languages—languages derived from Latin —are predominant. The term was coined in France in the mid-19th century to refer to regions in the Americas that were ruled by the Spanish, Portuguese, and French empires. The term does not have a precise definition, but it is "commonly used to describe South America, Central America, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean." In a narrow sense, it refers to Spanish America and Brazil. The term "Latin America" is broader than categories such as Hispanic America, which specifically refers to Spanish-speaking countries; and Ibero-America, a term not generally used that specifically refers to both Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries while leaving French and British excolonies aside.
Riḥla refers to both a journey and the written account of that journey, or travelogue. It constitutes a genre of Arabic literature. Associated with the medieval Islamic notion of "travel in search of knowledge", the riḥla as a genre of medieval and early-modern Arabic literature usually describes a journey taken with the intent of performing the Hajj, but can include an itinerary that vastly exceeds that original route. The classical riḥla in medieval Arabic travel literature, like those written by Ibn Battuta and Ibn Jubayr, includes a description of the "personalities, places, governments, customs, and curiosities" experienced by traveler, and usually within the boundaries of the Muslim world. However, the term rihla can be applied to other Arabic travel narratives describing journeys taken for reasons other than pilgrimage; for instance the 19th century riḥlas of Muhammad as-Saffar and Rifa'a al-Tahtawi both follow conventions of the riḥla genre by recording not only the journey to France from Morocco and Egypt, respectively, but also their experiences and observations.
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about 30,000 kilometres (19,000 mi) in total length. Except for a break of approximately 106 km (66 mi) across the border between northwest Colombia and southeast Panama called the Darién Gap, the roads link almost all of the Pacific coastal countries of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's longest "motorable road". It is only possible to cross by land between South America and Central America—the last town in Colombia to the first outpost in Panama—by a difficult and dangerous hike of at least four days through the Darién Gap, one of the rainiest areas of the planet.
The term Latin America primarily refers to the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the New World.
The Motorcycle Diaries is a posthumously published memoir of the Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. It traces his early travels, as a 23-year-old medical student, with his friend Alberto Granado, a 29-year-old biochemist. Leaving Buenos Aires, Argentina, in January 1952 on the back of a sputtering single cylinder 1939 Norton 500cc dubbed La Poderosa, they desired to explore the South America they only knew from books. During the formative odyssey Guevara is transformed by witnessing the social injustices of exploited mine workers, persecuted communists, ostracized lepers, and the tattered descendants of a once-great Inca civilization. By journey's end, they had travelled for a "symbolic nine months" by motorcycle, steamship, raft, horse, bus, and hitchhiking, covering more than 8,000 kilometres (5,000 mi) across places such as the Andes, the Atacama Desert, and the Amazon River Basin.
The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
Ian Douglas Wright is an English television host, artist and comedian. Wright was host of Pilot Productions' travel/adventure television series Globe Trekker. He also hosted the short-lived programme Ian Wright Live, a show filmed before a live audience and featured discussions on various travel topics.
Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and the indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the second half of the 20th century, largely due to the international success of the style known as magical realism. As such, the region's literature is often associated solely with this style, with the 20th century literary movement known as Latin American Boom, and with its most famous exponent, Gabriel García Márquez. Latin American literature has a rich and complex tradition of literary production that dates back many centuries.
The roadside hawk is a relatively small bird of prey found in the Americas. This vocal species is often the most common raptor in its range. It has many subspecies and is now usually placed in the monotypic genus Rupornis instead of Buteo.
Passport to Latin America is a television show on the Travel Channel hosted by television host Samantha Brown and includes tours of Latin America. A successor to Brown's Passport to Europe series, in Passport to Latin America she tours cities of Latin America such as Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires and interacts with the town's locals. She also visits local landmarks, including popular restaurants and shopping locales, and educates viewers on events in the city's history.
Mauricio Solaún is a professor of Latin American social and political institutions at the University of Illinois. He holds degrees in law, economics, and sociology from the Universidad de Villanueva, Cuba, Yale University, and the University of Chicago, respectively.
Sir William Gore Ouseley was a British diplomat who served in various roles in Washington, D.C., Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. His main achievement were negotiations concerning ownership of Britain's interests in what is now Honduras and Nicaragua.
Carleton Beals was an American journalist, writer, historian, and political activist with a special interest in Latin America. A major journalistic coup for him was his interview with the Nicaraguan rebel Augusto Sandino in February 1928. In the 1920s he was part of the cosmopolitan group of intellectuals, artists, and journalists in Mexico City. He remained an active, prolific, and politically engaged leftist journalist and is the subject of a scholarly biography.
The Anglo-South American Bank was a British and Argentine bank established with the acquisition of the Anglo-Argentine Bank in 1900 by the Bank of Tarapacá and London. The new bank first took the name of Bank of Tarapacá and Argentina, which it changed in 1907 to Anglo-South American Bank.
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World is a nonfiction book released in 2015, by the historian Andrea Wulf about the Prussian naturalist, explorer and geographer Alexander von Humboldt. The book follows Humboldt from his early childhood and travels through Europe as a young man to his journey through Latin America and his return to Europe. Wulf makes the case that Humboldt synthesized knowledge from many different fields to form a vision of nature as one interconnected system, that would go on to influence scientists, activists and the public.
Conference on Latin American History, (CLAH), founded in 1926, is the professional organization of Latin American historians affiliated with the American Historical Association. It publishes the journal The Hispanic American Historical Review.
Latin America–United Kingdom relations are the diplomatic, economic and cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the countries of Latin America.
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