A Companion to the Spanish Picaresque Novel
Contributions by Dr Marta Albalá Pelegrín, JA Garrido Ardila, Professor Anne J Cruz, Edward H Friedman, Dr Antón García-Fernández, Professor Enrique García Santo-Tomás, Dr José Luis Gastañaga Ponce de León, Dr Faith Harden, Professor Hilaire Kallendorf, Professor Howard Mancing, Professor John C Parrack, Professor Vicente Pérez de León, Dr Brian M Phillips, Dr Richard Squibbs, Professor Andrés Zamora Edited by Edward H Friedman
Publication date:
20 September 2022Length of book:
240 pagesPublisher
Tamesis BooksDimensions:
234x156mmISBN-13: 9781800106475
Written by an international group of scholars, this edited collection provides an overview of the Spanish picaresque from its origins in tales of lowborn adventurers to its importance for the modern novel, along with consideration of the debates that the picaresque has inspired.
The term picaresque describes a specific set of early modern Spanish narratives relating the life story of a lowborn adventurer in a realist, ironic, and often humorous manner. The protagonist, the picaro or pícara (rascal), seeks upward mobility in a resolutely hierarchical society determined to prevent his - or her - ascent, and both are rich targets of satire. Spanish pícaros inspired Anglo-French rogues including Gil Blas and Tom Jones and paved the way for the modern novel.
Written by an international group of scholars, this edited collection provides an overview of the Spanish picaresque novel from its origins to the present day, along with a treatment of the debates that the picaresque has inspired. After introductory chapters on the picaresque genre and the origin of the phenomenon, the book analyses canonical texts and their role in the picaresque spectrum. Further chapters then turn to critical approaches to the genre and manifestations of the picaresque in Hispanic America, France, England, and modern Spain. Overall, the book affords readers a broad sense of the range of this rich tradition and an in-depth view of the field and its major texts.
The term picaresque describes a specific set of early modern Spanish narratives relating the life story of a lowborn adventurer in a realist, ironic, and often humorous manner. The protagonist, the picaro or pícara (rascal), seeks upward mobility in a resolutely hierarchical society determined to prevent his - or her - ascent, and both are rich targets of satire. Spanish pícaros inspired Anglo-French rogues including Gil Blas and Tom Jones and paved the way for the modern novel.
Written by an international group of scholars, this edited collection provides an overview of the Spanish picaresque novel from its origins to the present day, along with a treatment of the debates that the picaresque has inspired. After introductory chapters on the picaresque genre and the origin of the phenomenon, the book analyses canonical texts and their role in the picaresque spectrum. Further chapters then turn to critical approaches to the genre and manifestations of the picaresque in Hispanic America, France, England, and modern Spain. Overall, the book affords readers a broad sense of the range of this rich tradition and an in-depth view of the field and its major texts.
A good volume that registers the progressively more flexible state of the Picaresque Studies at the Anglo-American Academy. An opportunity for new generations of scholars consider the wealth hidden beneath the monumental weight of the labels and to warn of the excellent work on which picaresque studies are based of today.