Maureen Quilligan

Walter D. Mignolo

Margaret R. Greer

The phrase “The Black Legend” was coined in 1912 by a Spanish journalist in protest of the characterization of Spain by other Europeans as a backward country defined by ignorance, superstition, and religious fanaticism, whose history could never recover from the black mark of its violent conquest of the Americas. Challenging this stereotype, Rereading the Black Legend contextualizes Spain’s uniquely tarnished reputation by exposing the colonial efforts of other nations whose interests were served by propagating the “Black Legend.” A distinguished group of contributors here examine early modern imperialisms including the Ottomans in Eastern Europe, the Portuguese in East India, and the cases of Mughal India and China, to historicize the charge of unique Spanish brutality in encounters with indigenous peoples during the Age of Exploration. The geographic reach and linguistic breadth of this ambitious collection will make it a valuable resource for any discussion of race, national identity, and religious belief in the European Renaissance.

The Discourses of Religious and Racial Difference in the Renaissance Empires

Rereading the Black Legend

'Who doubts, my reader, that you will be amazed that a woman has the audacity not only to write a book, but to send it for printing, which is the crucible in which the purity of genius is tested?' A pioneer of early modern feminism, María de Zayas y Sotomayor wrote poetry, drama and prose but is best known for two page-turning collections of short stories: Exemplary Tales of Love (1637) and Tales of Disillusion (1647). This book provides an engaging introduction to Zayas and her work. It begins by relating what we know of her life, placing her in her socio-political and economic context and addressing the issue of women's literacy. Following chapters examine her use of sexual desire, violence and humour in her tales; her narrative structures; and her oral style. The book then turns to identity construction in her tales and in society, analysing questions of gender, class, family and 'race', and to her treatment of religion, magic and the supernatural. The final chapters explore Zayas's status as a proto-feminist; her early modern reception in Spain and elsewhere; and various critical readings of her work.

María de Zayas and Her Tales of Desire, Death and Disillusion

J. E. Varey

Edition of documents relating to the court theatre in Madrid in 17c and early 18c. In the first volume of this series N.D. Shergold and J.E. Varey edited legajo 666 of the Sección Administrativa of the Archivo General de Palacio. Edited here are the papers from legajo667, as well as others relatedto court theatre of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. These documents reveal in detail - particularly for the performance of Calderón's Fieras afemina amor in 1673 -the sumptuous staging of such works, with awealth of details on costume. Others focus on the ceremony and protocol of the performances. Most are from the last years of Philip IV and Charles II, but there is also documentation on the first decade of the eighteenth century, showing the influence of Italian theatre on the Spanish court. MARGARET RICH GREERis Professor of Spanish at Duke University.

Margaret R. Greer

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