'On that branch which is calles Caura are a nation of people whose heads appear on their shoulders; which though it may be thought a mere fable, yet for mine own part I am resolved it is true, because every child in the provinces of Aromaia and Canuri affirm the same. They are called Ewaipanoma; they are reported to have their eyes in their shoulders, and their mouths in the middle of their breasts, and that a long train of hair groweth backward between their shoulders.....Such a nation was written of Mandeville, whose reports were holden for fables for many years; and yet since the East Indies were discovered, we find his relations true of such things as heretofore were held incredible. Whether it be true or no, the matter is not great, neither can there be any profit in the imagination; for mine own part I saw them not, but I am resolved that so many people did not all combine or forethink to make the report...' (from The Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana, p. 353 in your anthology)
Have a look at Mandeville's book that Raleigh is here referring to on EEBO (http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home)
and think of the importance of the body in discourses of difference and its role in establishing a national identity. You might also want to look at John Bulwer's Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform'd: Or, The Artificiall Changling (1653).
Also, based on Raleigh's passage above, think about the reliability of the authors of travel narratives.
Have a look at Mandeville's book that Raleigh is here referring to on EEBO (http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home)
and think of the importance of the body in discourses of difference and its role in establishing a national identity. You might also want to look at John Bulwer's Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform'd: Or, The Artificiall Changling (1653).
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| Image from EEBO |
Also, based on Raleigh's passage above, think about the reliability of the authors of travel narratives.
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