This article shows the representation of the sea in the travel narrative of Pedro Montengón (1745-1824) through his didactic novel Eusebio (1786), thanks to the cybernetic space that contains data cues. The main character of this novel is a young man (Eusebio), a survivor of a shipwreck off the coast of Maryland, Pennsylvania, where he begins his education in an adoptive family. He loses his parents, his sister and all his belongings in the shipwreck on his way to America, the New World, where his parents intended to settle in order to improve their wealth. His ambition is held back by the furious wind, the violent storm, the demonic waves, the shipwreck and the death of all the passengers except the young noble Eusebio, who is rescued by another survivor Gil Altano hanging from a mast. We have a description of the hostile and dangerous sea in contrast to the coastline where they saw the servants of a Quaker, a rich businessman (Henrique Myden). 

Having examined the significance of the sea, we then examine the details of the staging between the tribulations of the shipwrecked and the gaze of the spectators who end up rescuing them. This process of staging between the shipwrecked and the spectator will allow us to establish a certain correspondence in the representation of the sea and the coastline between Quevedo (1580-1645) and Pedro Montengón (1745- 1824). Indeed, we must point out that while reading Carmen Peraita’s article (Peraita, 2002), we realize that both authors have more or less the same ideas that explain the loss of the man, who is a victim of vices such as ambition, easy gain and lack of restraint and which drive him to set sail, as opposed to the virtues (moderation, modesty and humility) of his rescuer (the spectator), one who has a quiet and peaceful life on the coast. 

Moreover, it is a philosophy that is conveyed by a literary means (the shipwreck) through a narrative technique, comparing the description of the sea and the coastline. Thus, the idea is to compare these two authors who both treated the issues of their time in the same way, even if they are not from the same period. We will see that for these two writers, the causes of human perdition are the same (ambition, excessiveness and greed) and lead to navigation (Peraita, 2002, p. 185), which is often fatal (Peraita, 2002, p. 185). The philosophical meaning of the process by which the spectator perceives the shipwreck from a land perspective will be examined (Peraita, 2002, p. 187). In a more existential dimension, the starting point is that one is already on board and there is no possibility of abstaining: the outcome for man is only rescue or drowning, according to Blumenberg (quoted by Peraita, 2002, p. 187). In short, boats are the symbol of destiny.

On the other hand, the narrative function of space (functional topography) will allow us to better grasp the meaning of these different spaces in Pedro Montengón’s novel, be it the maritime space, the coastline, the coasts, the barn of his adoptive parents facing the sea. This method of analysis based on the mimetical representation of space and on the symbolic or ideological function or dimension of space in correlation with the actions of the characters brings us back to the semiology of space as a meaningful tool that establishes similarities between Montegon and Quevedo from the narrative point of view and that put up front the ideological dimension of space. In fact, the writer from Alicante uses the journey to the New World to highlight, at the same time, his romantic ideas, through the personification of the sea, the furious wind, the clouds, the night, the storm, the shipwreck, and death, updating the classical ideas as a preromantic writer. The boat serves the narrative because the shipwreck provokes “ruptures” of destiny. It is also a meeting place. Again, Montengón’s novel uses it both in an ancient way (in reference to the Byzantine novel, that is to say, the succession of events through navigation, the shipwreck allowing the opening of perspectives and encounters) and in a modern way (the boat favours introspection and moral testing).

Finally, our reflection will be articulated around two main axes. Firstly, we will look at the place of Pedro Montengón in travel literature (1.). Then, we will successively study: Quevedo’s influence and Montengón’s innovative role in the travel narrative (1.1.), the portrayal of the shipwrecked and the rescuers (1.2.) and his pre-romantic ideas through the description of the sea and the coastline (1.3.). Secondly, we will examine the opposition between the coast and the sea (1.4.) and then take a look at the role of ships as a symbol of destiny (2.) by relying on the narrative role of the shipwreck (2.1.), through the journey (2.2.) and the interpolated novels (2.3.).