Slavery and captivity in Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca's 1542 La Relación

Based on Cabeza de Vaca’s La Relación 1542 manuscript, this paper analyzes how, during his castaway period, his discourse constructs the nature of his captivity in contrast to that of the African slave. By utilizing Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the superaddressee—who in a dialogue subordinates all to its contextual definition—this paper reveals how Cabeza de Vaca’s narrative interprets his slave category in contrast to that of Africans.