The Representations of San Francisco (California): a portable harbor in the fragile geography of the North Pacific

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5433/1984-3356.2011v4n8p461

Keywords:

San Francisco, Representation, Cartography, Expeditions during the Enlightenment, Borderland

Abstract

San Francisco bay first appeared in chronicles and navigation charts two centuries before being officially discovered. The news of the existence of a great shelter to the north of New Spain encouraged diverse expeditions and brought back mythical images in literature and cartography. This mysterious enclave that maps glided stealthily was looked for unsuccessfully by a number of seafarers. Systematic advances to take control of the Pacific during the period known as the Enlightenment dispelled the obscurity to which the territory had been submitted and did shed light on the harbor that had been hidden for so long. The expeditions of the 18th century finally banished the last frontier of the New Spanish Great North and from that period onward an image of San Francisco that exceeded its own legend was created.

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Author Biographies

Salvador Bernabéu Albert, Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos - EEHA

Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.

José María García Redondo, Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos - EEHA

Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

References

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How to Cite

ALBERT, Salvador Bernabéu; GARCÍA REDONDO, José María. The Representations of San Francisco (California): a portable harbor in the fragile geography of the North Pacific. Antíteses, [S. l.], v. 4, n. 8, p. 461–492, 2011. DOI: 10.5433/1984-3356.2011v4n8p461. Disponível em: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/antiteses/article/view/10706. Acesso em: 21 nov. 2024.