Rhetoric, discourse and agency of the Creole Mexican in 'Nuevo Mundo y Conquista' by Francisco de Terrazas

This dissertation studies the rhetorical construction of the figures of heroes, antiheroes and antagonists in the sixteenth-century epic poem Nuevo Mundo y Conquista by Francisco de Terrazas and its role in the formation of the discourse and agency of Creole Mexicans discontent with the Spanish administration.;The Introduction provides a historical background to the claims and complaints of Creole Mexicans---children of Spaniards born in Mexico---who were unhappy that they were losing control of encomiendas and access to government positions to which they felt they had a right because they were descendants of Spanish conquerors and early settlers of Mexico. This chapter also defines the most important terms used in this study, such as hero, anti-hero, antagonist, discourse, and agency.;Chapter I describes textual history and its literary and historical sources. A short biography of Terrazas and a survey of existing scholarship about Nuevo Mundo y Conquista are also given.;Chapter II presents the text's literary background, including contemporary epic models and literary theory.;Chapter III explores how the poem's themes were elaborated through the utilization of judicial rhetoric and topoi. It also studies the formation of a complex concept of the hero in Nuevo Mundo y Conquista , in which Cortes and his soldiers are at the same time heroes and anti-heroes, and other Spaniards are enemies of Cortes as formidable as are the Indians.;Chapter IV concentrates on the tropes, figures, and other rhetorical resources used by the author in the construction of the hero, and his use to express the complaints and frustrations of discontented Creole Mexicans. Among such figures, special attention is given to the utilization of allegories and Homeric similes.;Chapter V focuses on the complex characterization of the antagonists and anti-heroes in the text, and their utilization as an instrument of persuasion in the Creole sociopolitical agenda.;The Conclusions summarize the most important findings of this dissertation, especially the poem's crucial role in the early development of a Creole discourse in Colonial America.