Between "Chaos" and "Order": The representation of the "Sounds" in the work of Pedro Cieza de León, Primera parte de la Crónica del Perú

Abstract

Pedro Cieza de León was part of the Spanish forces that participated in the conquest ofSouth America in the middle of the XVI century. After coming very young to thecontinent, he arrived in Peru at a time when the main part of the conquest of the Incaempire by Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro had finished. However, he took partin relevant political events and in internal conflicts that soon appeared among the mainreferents of the territorial occupation. Along with Sebastián Belalcázar he toured thecurrent Ecuador and Peru, where he participated in the foundation of cities. His tripallowed him a particular contact with the indigenous cultures. Close to the pro Almagrotrend he was appointed by the President of the Royal Local audience, Pedro de la Gasca,as "chronicler", in spite of the fact that he had only basic studies and had no training as alawyer. This gave him the possibility to perform as a writer who registered his perceptionsabout the biological and socio-cultural environment in which he found himself...