Commentary: Tex-map Mania: The Outline of Texas as a Popular Symbol

The Canto general is a book containing a large collection of poems by Pablo Neruda that shows the intricate relationships among nature, places, and peoples in the Americas. The third section in the book, “Los conquistadores,” has heretofore received scant critical attention. Its warp is Neruda's depictions of nature, Indians, and the conquistadors. “Los conquistadores” is shown to be much more than a reiteration of the Black Legend, which presents the Spanish conquest and settlement of the Americas in an entirely negative manner. Neruda's vision of a new people bonded to nature for nourishment and united in a collective will is discussed, and the role of the Conquest toward that end is explained.