Humanism, Magic, Love, and Rhetoric in Spanish Literature of the 15th Century

3 units

This is a course devoted to three related subjects that were central to the life and work of the Spanish intellectual elite during most of the 15th Century: the power of words, the nature of love, and an idea of magic that permeates the world, not only as a force to be reckoned with, but also as a means to better one's own position in society, both in the private and also in the public sphere. We will study a selection of texts produced in courtly and university circles, especially at the court of Isabel de Castile and at the University of Salamanca. Given the dynamic cultural exchange that was taking place at that time between the Iberian and the Italian peninsulas, special attention will be given to the arrival and development of humanism in Spain. We will study a selection of sentimental fiction, treatises of love, magic, and rhetoric, and conclude the course reading and analyzing the Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea also known as Celestina, which is considered, to this date, the second most famous work of Spanish literature, just after Don Quijote. The analysis of these texts will be simultaneous to an ongoing reflection about the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition and its effects on those who, still after having converted, were threatened and affected by its existence. We will also read a selection of theoretical and critical texts that will help us deepen our understanding of the primary readings. In Spanish.