The purpose of this study is to provide greater insight into the power of native women as understood by sixteenth century North American conquistadors by juxtaposing two analogous but geographically distinct settings. Depictions of women in New France by Jacques Cartier, Samuel Champlain and their followers in the northern borderlands of North America are compared to those depictions made by Hernando de Soto, Pedro Menendez de Aviles and their contemporaries during the same general period in the southern borderlands (Florida). The accounts of these figures, who came from varied backgrounds and promoted differing world views, provide evidence for the earliest foundations of the “imperial gaze” in reference to distant poles along North America's eastern seaboard. They also demonstrate the key role that native women played in orchestrating intercultural encounters with conquistadors during the sixteenth century.

中文翻译：

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女性形象的承诺与幻灭：佛罗里达和新法兰西的征服者，一个比较视角

本研究的目的是通过将两个相似但地理上不同的环境并置，更深入地了解 16 世纪北美征服者所理解的土著妇女的力量。雅克·卡蒂埃 (Jacques Cartier)、塞缪尔·尚普兰 (Samuel Champlain) 及其追随者在北美北部边境地区对新法兰西妇女的描绘与埃尔南多·德·索托 (Hernando de Soto)、佩德罗·梅嫩德斯·德·阿维莱斯 (Pedro Menendez de Aviles) 及其同时代人在南部边境地区的同一时期所作的描绘进行了比较（佛罗里达）。这些来自不同背景并宣扬不同世界观的人物的描述为“帝国凝视”的最早基础提供了证据，这些人涉及北美东部沿海遥远的两极。