This book encourages adopting a transatlantic perspective, thinking across geographical borders to examine the reciprocal cultural exchange between Spain and Spanish America during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The varied written formats adopted by early modern writers in Spain and the Americas are examined: epic poetry, chronicles, legal documents, lyric poetry, and historical narratives. Through a interdisciplinary approach, the author studies how the different discursive formations of the colonial period represent racial, gender and cultural differences on both sides of the Atlantic.