Travel Chronicles as a Source of Culture and Art

Intercultural Dialogues in Fernão Mendes Pinto's Pilgrimage

Abstract

The 15th century was one of the most important periods in history for Portugal, particularly for the development of knowledge in the various fields of science, culture and arts. It was at this time that maritime expansion and the conquest of new worlds began, a fact that led to the development of a more noble and advanced art of navigation. Safeguarding all land expeditions, as well as all established trade routes, maritime expansion allowed Europeans to reach remote places on the planet, as happened with the arrival of the Portuguese in India, China and finally, Japan in 1543. Throughout this expansion, we observed the appearance of several written records that report, with a greater or lesser level of description, the experiences of the navigators and their contacts with the people present in the places of arrival. In this context, Peregrinação (Pilgrimage) by Fernão Mendes Pinto proposes the account of a journey through eastern lands between the years 1537 and 1558. Throughout the narrative, there are numerous references to elements of nature and human experience, allowing us to outline a proposed soundscape for every moment and place. Knowing the uniqueness and influence of the sound of a place, we want to identify the sound sources that are identified in the work of Fernão Mendes Pinto, in order to build what we could call the soundscape of Peregrinação (Pilgrimage). To this end, and based on the references he points out, we will try to objectify the elements that, through sound, show life and art, denouncing ways of being different from those experienced in the European space, fostering a dialogue and a connection between the different peoples. Next, we will also attempt to identify points of convergence between the two identified cultures, the Western and the Eastern, with regard to the referenced territories.