Entdeckung und Verdeckung des anderen. Zum 500-Jahr-Gedenken der europäischen Ankunft in Amerika

Abstract

WenigeJahre vor der ersten Indienfahrt des Christoph Kolumbus verfaßte der italienische Humanist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola seine berühmte Rede über die Würde des Menschen (oratio de dignitate hominis), in der er das aus dem Geist der Renaissance geborene neuzeitliche Verständnis der menschlichen Freiheit entwickelte. Der Mensch als Maß aller Dinge, vom höchsten Baumeister in die Mitte der Welt gestellt: (...)

English

The forthcoming ceremonies for the 'Quinta Centenario', for the five hundred year anniversary of the so-called discovery of Latin America are being discussed passionately and controversially. At the centre of the discussions is the argument about the painful experience concerning the violent clashes between the European and the indigenous cultures. Up until now the European point of view was marked by a Straightforward Euro-centricity which did not want to take seriously the foreignness and the inherent rights of other peoples and cultures. Essentially the essay deals in historical sequence with the images of the Indian from a European point of view. Columbus described the Indians as a heavenly creature whereas a little later Vespucci created the image of a cruel cannibal. Las Casas emphasized a new perspective in the sixteenth century which plays an important roJe in present day Latin-American theology: the Indians as the victims of Spanish oppression. The pictorial chronicle 'Nueva Cor6nica y Buen Gobierno' which was written about 1600 by the Peruvian Guaman Poma shows on the other hand the image which the Indian had of hirnself. This image had no chance to produce an historical impact in Europe. Finally five criteria are given for the necessary rediscovery of the otherness of the others in regard to the 'Quinta Centenario': change of perspective, rediscovery, self-identity, participation and communication.