Strait of Magellan: travel, narrative and archive

Abstract

The Magellanic journey not only meant finding the passage that united both oceans, but also, for the first time, managed to circumnavigate the world. Starting from a place and returning to it are the complementary movements that transform this trip into an unprecedented feat. In the action of crossing that passage-world (Onetto, 2018) the roundness of the Earth is confirmed, total knowledge about it and the possibility of its absolute and imperialist possession are strengthened. This paper proposes a tour of the stories that give a direct and deferred account of the journey that begins in 1519 with Magallanes and culminates with Elcano in 1522. It is organized in the three modulations anticipated by the title: travel, narrative and archive.