Contact Zones for a Global History of Knowledge

Abstract

Among the various research and writing challenges that a global history of knowledge entails, the geographical question of how to assess the global knowledges from its local contexts requires particular attention. By considering different and recent historiographical backgrounds, in this article I contend that the concept of “contact zones” holds significant profitability, since it provides a valuable framework for writing compelling stories about the dynamics of the multifaceted processes involved in the creation, transmissions, and transformation of knowledges in a world characterized by diversity and interdependence. Early modern Spanish America is highlighted here as an exemplar case for analyzing the practices of exchange, translation, and negotiation emerging in contact zones of knowledges.