The following is the proposal for my masters portfolio and the current focus of my work in the field of translation studies. This is actually a joint creative portfolio, a collaboration between myself and a colleague, which began as a final project for a course entitled "Borderlands in American Colonial History" in the Spring semester of 2004. We are in the process of expanding and refining the project in order to meet the requirements for Masters Degrees in Arts and Humanities at UTD.

Translation of Brigadier Pedro de Rivera's Diario y Derrotero de la Visita a los Presidios de la América Septentrional Española, 1724-1728

For the creative section of this portfolio we have translated an excerpt from the diary of Pedro de Rivera, a Spaniard who explored the northern frontier of New Spain for the Crown from 1724-1728. This section of Rivera's diary, describing his expedition beginning in Mexico City, traveling through northwestern Mexico, up to Santa Fé, and back to Mexico (before heading into central and east Texas) has not yet been translated. In 1724, on the recommendation of Viceroy de Casa Fuerte, Rivera was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and charged with inspecting and reforming the presidial system in New Spain. The expedition and inspection of 29 presidios took more than three years and covered over 3000 leagues (almost 8000 miles). The diary itself resembles "field notes" in which Rivera notes the number of leagues traveled, the characteristics of the land and its inhabitants, descriptions of flora and fauna, measurements of latitude and longitude, as well as difficulties encountered along the way. These notes appear to have served as the basis of the formal report and recommendations he compiled for the Crown upon the completion of the expedition. Rivera published his notes as a diary eight years later in order that "…in the future there will be a record of the past. So that the information I acquired at the cost of much fatigue would not be entombed in obscurity."

"Rivera, Spain and New Spain on the eve of the Spanish Enlightenment"

The scholarly essay component of this portfolio focuses on the forward-thinking political, social, and scientific climate present in Spain and on the northern frontier of New Spain in the early eighteenth century. Many changes were taking place in the Spanish empire on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1720s. The northern borderland of New Spain was brimming with scientific discoveries, botanical studies, technological advances in mining practices, presidial reforms, improvements in cartography, demographic and social studies of indigenous peoples, and colonization and settlement. In this context we argue that the Rivera expedition occurred approximately twenty years prior to what is generally considered to be the beginning of the Spanish Enlightenment and that he and his expedition were, in fact, precursors to that Enlightenment, traditionally held to have begun in the mid-1700s, roughly coincident with the accession of Carlos III to the throne of Spain. Our examination of the prevailing cultural, political, historical, and intellectual currents in early eighteenth century Spain and New Spain will set the stage for our discussion of the Rivera expedition. In addition, we will compare Rivera's expedition to that of two of his contemporaries, discuss the diary as a literary genre, and examine the creative process involved in translating this text.