Early Modern Spanish Literature

Early modern Spanish literature encompasses the poetry, prose, drama, and visual culture produced during the Golden Age of Spain, roughly the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a period shaped by the collision of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim traditions under the pressure of the Inquisition and an expanding colonial empire. Scholars working in this area examine how writers and artists negotiated questions of religious identity, gender, and political authority, often reading canonical figures like Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Teresa of Ávila alongside archival records of inquisitorial proceedings and legal debates about blood purity. Central open questions include how conversos and moriscos—communities of Jewish and Muslim converts to Christianity—shaped literary form and theological argument from within a culture that sought to exclude them, and how classical European models were transformed when transplanted to sixteenth-century Spanish America. The field sits at the intersection of literary theory, history, and religious studies, making it a productive site for understanding how identity and power are negotiated through representation.

Works

130,756

Total citations

115,088

Keywords

Golden Age SpainLiteratureCultureReligious IdentityVisual ArtsInquisition