An America unknown

If we consider that the Spanish chroniclers had gradually invented what eventually became America, as O'Gorman proposed, the Portuguese chroniclers of the first half of the 16th century were even more cautious in building an identity for the overseas territories visited by Columbus and Cabral. These sixteenth century chroniclers, focusing on Asia, only later ceased to think of this "almost other world" as a place of passage, to think of it as a place to stop. Disregarding the surprised tone of the letters and reports used as sources, and showing concern in giving Cabral's travels a specific place in the construction of Portuguese history, the explorers' adventures highlight the peculiarities of the lands and peoples that would later come to deserve special attention from their congeners. It is the place that the Portuguese sixteenth century chronicler has given to these territories, and the place that was fixed in the memory of the 16th century Portuguese, which are the aspects covered in this text.