Monsters, Freaks, and Indians: Characters in Exploration Narratives

Abstract

Explorers’ observations and actions were influenced by their cultural baggage, mind-sets, biases, expectations, desires, interests, and more, shaping the ways in which they depicted, classified, and utilized the colonial landscapes and peoples they encountered. In this issue of TI , we are pleased to present three engaging, informative, and provocative pieces that examine explorers’ discussions of peoples that they characterized and classified as monsters, freaks, and Indians. The issue begins with Anastasia Kayutla’s engaging and innovative article, “In Search of Monsters: Constructing the ‘Other’ in Spanish Chronicles of the Americas and Early Russian Descriptions of Siberia.” There are several aspects of this piece that readers will appreciate, not least of which is the subject matter. Kayutla documents explorers’ descriptions of a host of strange beings, including monsters, giants, beings with a combination of human and non-human animal features and qualities, and communities of women with remarkable characteristics and traditions. Kayutla maintains that explorers’ bizarre descriptions constituted a form of “other-ing,” strange representations that supported explorers’ endeavors to dominate the places and peoples they encountered. Examining the Americas and Russia over the course of the early modern era, readers will also appreciate the article’s broad comparative analysis of exploration. By taking on the atypical project of comparing these two regions, the study is pathbreaking and innovative. Furthermore, Kayutla has some intriguing comparisons, not least of which is her assertion that notwith-standing the fact that the regions had limited contact with one another (even in the transmission of knowledge), explorers’ depictions of monsters and other fantastical beings was a commonality. This claim is based upon yet another aspect of her study that readers should find informative, namely, her sources. She shows that the bible, ancient sources (e.g. Herodotus), and medieval travel accounts influenced explorers in both the Americas and Russia. Readers will also find the following article—Mirela Altic’s piece titled “Jesuit Cartography in the Rockies: Pierre-Jean de Smet and the