Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2000. [Vol. 6.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)
Studies - Enikő Bollobás: "My son is a Magyar": Ideas of Firstness and Origin in Charles Olson 's Poems
there, which preconception prevents him from learning anything about the island: "It is an Ilande which your men call Penguin, because of the multitude of birdes of the same name. Yet wee neither sawe any birdes, nor drewe neere to the lande" (Quinn 174). Second, he watches the scene from a safe distance and does not allow himself to be part of it. For example, he does not land on Penguin Island and does not wish to venture into the woods (the "wildenesse"), and thereby does not meet the inhabitants of the land. "Whether there bee any people in this Countrey I not know, neither have I seene any to witnesse it" (175). Third, he sees in terms of general categories, not concrete details. When describing the flora and fauna of Newfoundland, he merely speaks about fish, trees, pines, and berries, but without going into specifics. Fourth, he perceives with an eye for use and profit, hoping the land "may easelie bee framed for the use of man" and "mettals lye under the hilles" (175). Finally, he recognizes that their journey must be "profitable to the intentions" of the Patron (176), and rejoices over how the "Admirall tooke possession of the Country, for himselfe and the kingdome of England: having made and published certain Lawes, concerning religion, and obedience to the Queene of England" (175). He sees himself as the advance guard of colonization and exploitation. 5. Olson/la Cosa vs. Parmenius Read next to Stephen Parmenius' letter, the features of Charles Olson's "On first Looking out through Juan de la Cosa's Eyes" I discussed earlier seem all the more prevalent. Parmenius writes out of the colonizer's perspective, with a sense of European centrality; representing the financial and political interests behind the explorations; as such he writes conquest literature. What he sees is constantly fitted into the paradigms of what he knows; his seeing takes place in general categories rather than concrete details. At the same time he withdraws himself from the scene, making an "other" of the object of his vision. Olson's la Cosa is an explorer trying to know by measure, myth, and word. He tries to see without recognizing, to understand scenes that might not fit his cultural paradigms. When Olson "first" looks out through Juan de la Cosa's eyes, he sees a whole series, a whole process, of first and once events —or more properly, their records — 21
