Studies on the Spanish Sentimental Romance (1440-1550): Redefining a Genre: 168

The Spanish sentimental romances flourished at the threshold of the early modern period. Drawing upon a vast tradition of medieval discursive prose and lyric poetry, the romances seek to combine several expressive modes in a search for new perspectives and new ways of telling stories of passionate love, death and adventure. Wth their emphasis on psychological interiority and their insistent portrayal of the sufferings of love, the Spanish sentimental romances represent an essential step in the evolution of the modern novel and are a touchstone for understanding the development of European imaginative prose This volume brings together twelve essays by leading experts in the field from around the world. Subjects include an exploration of the earliest sources of the tradition in Old French narrative allegory and an investigation of the dynamics of literary canonicity and reader responses in one of its last examples. Some of the romances are discussed in the context of their historical and occasional settings and are shown to be, in addition to romans a clef, inspired by a wide range of real political and poetic concerns of the late middle ages. Finally, several studies explore the romances' conscious inscription of the debate questioning the social privileges of sex and gender. JOSEPH J. GWARA teaches in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Dickinson College; E. MICHAEL GERLI is Professor of Spanish at Georgetown University. Contributors: E. MICHAEL GERLI, MARINA SCORDILIS BROWNLEE, PATRICIA E. GRIEVE, GREGORY PETER ANDRACHUK, JOSEPH J. GWARA, CARMEN PARRILLA GARC-A, REGULA ROHLAND DE LANGBEHN, DOROTHY SEVERIN, IVY A. CORFIS, BARBARA F. WEISSBERGER, LOUISE M. HAYWOOD,KEITH WHINNOM