Christina H. Lee
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781784991203
- eISBN:
- 9781526104021
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784991203.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This book explores the Spanish elite’s fixation on social and racial “passing” and “passers” as represented in a wide range of texts produced in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It examines ...
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This book explores the Spanish elite’s fixation on social and racial “passing” and “passers” as represented in a wide range of texts produced in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It examines literary and non-literary works that express the dominant Spaniards’ anxiety that socially mobile New Christians could impersonate and pass as versions of themselves. Current scholarship has implicitly postulated that the social energy that led to the massive marginalization of New Christians and/or lowborns from central social spaces, and the marginals’ attempts to hide their true identity, had its roots in the elite’s rejection of sociocultural and genealogical heterogeneity, or “difference.” Christina Lee makes a key intervention in this discussion by proposing that there was a parallel phenomenon at play that might have been as resounding as an anxiety roused by the presence of those who were clearly different, a phenomenon she calls “the anxiety of sameness.” Lee argues that while conspicuous religious and socio-cultural difference was certainly perturbing and unsettling, in some ways, it was not as threatening to the dominant Spanish identity as the potential discovery of the arbitrariness that separated them from the undesirables of society. Students and seasoned scholars of Spanish history and literature will not only benefit from Lee’s arguments about the elite’s attempt to deny the fluidity of early modern identity, but also gain from her fresh readings of the works of Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Quevedo, as well as her analyses of lesser known works, such as joke books, treatises, genealogical catalogues, and documentary accounts.Less
This book explores the Spanish elite’s fixation on social and racial “passing” and “passers” as represented in a wide range of texts produced in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It examines literary and non-literary works that express the dominant Spaniards’ anxiety that socially mobile New Christians could impersonate and pass as versions of themselves. Current scholarship has implicitly postulated that the social energy that led to the massive marginalization of New Christians and/or lowborns from central social spaces, and the marginals’ attempts to hide their true identity, had its roots in the elite’s rejection of sociocultural and genealogical heterogeneity, or “difference.” Christina Lee makes a key intervention in this discussion by proposing that there was a parallel phenomenon at play that might have been as resounding as an anxiety roused by the presence of those who were clearly different, a phenomenon she calls “the anxiety of sameness.” Lee argues that while conspicuous religious and socio-cultural difference was certainly perturbing and unsettling, in some ways, it was not as threatening to the dominant Spanish identity as the potential discovery of the arbitrariness that separated them from the undesirables of society. Students and seasoned scholars of Spanish history and literature will not only benefit from Lee’s arguments about the elite’s attempt to deny the fluidity of early modern identity, but also gain from her fresh readings of the works of Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Quevedo, as well as her analyses of lesser known works, such as joke books, treatises, genealogical catalogues, and documentary accounts.
Christina H. Lee
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781784991203
- eISBN:
- 9781526104021
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784991203.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
In “Chapter Three,” Lee studies texts that convey the notion that if armed with knowledge about the distinguishing features of Conversos, Old Christians could become proficient at identifying even ...
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In “Chapter Three,” Lee studies texts that convey the notion that if armed with knowledge about the distinguishing features of Conversos, Old Christians could become proficient at identifying even the most sophisticated veneer of sameness. Lee focuses on religious and medical treatises aimed at rendering the Converso body as subhuman and tainted. These prescriptive texts written by theologians Pedro Aznar Cardona, Vicente da Costa Matos, Francisco de Torrejoncillo, and the medical doctor Juan de Quiñones argued—making extensive references to biblical, classical, and scientific sources—that Jews and Conversos exhibited their sinfulness through physical signs, such as elongated rears, skin eruptions, and/or suffered from periodic anal bleedings. Lee also examines Libros verdes, anonymous genealogical catalogues aimed at exposing the hidden Converso taint in the ancestries of distinguished families.Less
In “Chapter Three,” Lee studies texts that convey the notion that if armed with knowledge about the distinguishing features of Conversos, Old Christians could become proficient at identifying even the most sophisticated veneer of sameness. Lee focuses on religious and medical treatises aimed at rendering the Converso body as subhuman and tainted. These prescriptive texts written by theologians Pedro Aznar Cardona, Vicente da Costa Matos, Francisco de Torrejoncillo, and the medical doctor Juan de Quiñones argued—making extensive references to biblical, classical, and scientific sources—that Jews and Conversos exhibited their sinfulness through physical signs, such as elongated rears, skin eruptions, and/or suffered from periodic anal bleedings. Lee also examines Libros verdes, anonymous genealogical catalogues aimed at exposing the hidden Converso taint in the ancestries of distinguished families.
Christina H. Lee
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781784991203
- eISBN:
- 9781526104021
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784991203.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
In “Chapter Four,” Lee analyzes popular songs, anecdotes, aphorisms, and jokes that were invested in perpetuating the image of Conversos as essentially greedy, non-pork-eating Jews. She examines the ...
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In “Chapter Four,” Lee analyzes popular songs, anecdotes, aphorisms, and jokes that were invested in perpetuating the image of Conversos as essentially greedy, non-pork-eating Jews. She examines the construction of the Converso body as a grotesque, sub-human entity in the anonymous Diálogo entre Laín Calvo y Nuño Rasura and in Quevedo’s satirical poetry. She discusses Lope de Vega’s little known play, El galán escarmentado, which specifically addresses the Old Christian anxiety of being unknowingly stained by the passing Conversos through marriage. She concludes her discussion of the fear of passing Conversos with an analysis of Cervantes’ El retablo de las maravillas, a play representing the madness and disorder that ensues when limpieza-obsessed Old Christians find themselves incapable of tagging the impure subjects who, they believe, live amongst them.Less
In “Chapter Four,” Lee analyzes popular songs, anecdotes, aphorisms, and jokes that were invested in perpetuating the image of Conversos as essentially greedy, non-pork-eating Jews. She examines the construction of the Converso body as a grotesque, sub-human entity in the anonymous Diálogo entre Laín Calvo y Nuño Rasura and in Quevedo’s satirical poetry. She discusses Lope de Vega’s little known play, El galán escarmentado, which specifically addresses the Old Christian anxiety of being unknowingly stained by the passing Conversos through marriage. She concludes her discussion of the fear of passing Conversos with an analysis of Cervantes’ El retablo de las maravillas, a play representing the madness and disorder that ensues when limpieza-obsessed Old Christians find themselves incapable of tagging the impure subjects who, they believe, live amongst them.
Christina H. Lee
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781784991203
- eISBN:
- 9781526104021
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784991203.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
In the “Conclusion,” Lee posits two questions that arise from her study of early modern sameness but that fall outside the bounds of her book. The first concerns the reasons why New Christians and ...
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In the “Conclusion,” Lee posits two questions that arise from her study of early modern sameness but that fall outside the bounds of her book. The first concerns the reasons why New Christians and the underprivileged would attempt to subjugate others like themselves. Possible explanations might include a desire to prove his/her (either truthful or false) alliance to the dominant group, and the internalization of the dominant’s belief that his/her lineage and inherited culture is defective. Another inquiry that naturally emerges from Lee’s study is the substantial reduction in discourses that express the anxiety of sameness. She suggests that the decline could be the result of a decrease in the elite’s preoccupation with social infiltration due to the fact that in the 1700s the barriers to enter the nobility were substantially raised and commoners were less likely to pass into the hidalgo class.Less
In the “Conclusion,” Lee posits two questions that arise from her study of early modern sameness but that fall outside the bounds of her book. The first concerns the reasons why New Christians and the underprivileged would attempt to subjugate others like themselves. Possible explanations might include a desire to prove his/her (either truthful or false) alliance to the dominant group, and the internalization of the dominant’s belief that his/her lineage and inherited culture is defective. Another inquiry that naturally emerges from Lee’s study is the substantial reduction in discourses that express the anxiety of sameness. She suggests that the decline could be the result of a decrease in the elite’s preoccupation with social infiltration due to the fact that in the 1700s the barriers to enter the nobility were substantially raised and commoners were less likely to pass into the hidalgo class.
Kathryn L. Ness
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781683400042
- eISBN:
- 9781683400271
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683400042.003.0002
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
“Spanish-Atlantic History and Culture” provides a brief background on Spanish-Atlantic history and the connections between Andalucía, Spain, and the Americas. The first half of the chapter addresses ...
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“Spanish-Atlantic History and Culture” provides a brief background on Spanish-Atlantic history and the connections between Andalucía, Spain, and the Americas. The first half of the chapter addresses trade and emigration policies between the late fifthteenth century and the eighteenth century and how these impacted life and local economies on both sides of the Atlantic. The second half of the chapter explores themes of status and identity, with a special focus on the Spanish limpieza de sangre (“pure blood”) and casta (caste or social status based on ancestry and biological characteristics) systems in which individuals were classified according to their ancestry and religious or biological background. It concludes with a discussion of Spanish identity and identity crises, specifically those in 1766, 1808, and 1898.Less
“Spanish-Atlantic History and Culture” provides a brief background on Spanish-Atlantic history and the connections between Andalucía, Spain, and the Americas. The first half of the chapter addresses trade and emigration policies between the late fifthteenth century and the eighteenth century and how these impacted life and local economies on both sides of the Atlantic. The second half of the chapter explores themes of status and identity, with a special focus on the Spanish limpieza de sangre (“pure blood”) and casta (caste or social status based on ancestry and biological characteristics) systems in which individuals were classified according to their ancestry and religious or biological background. It concludes with a discussion of Spanish identity and identity crises, specifically those in 1766, 1808, and 1898.
Ian Campbell
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780719088360
- eISBN:
- 9781781706022
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719088360.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Chapter three outlines a series of anti-English arguments made by a series of well-educated Gaelic Irish ideologues and politicians between the 1610s and 1660s. These Gaelic Irishmen not only argued ...
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Chapter three outlines a series of anti-English arguments made by a series of well-educated Gaelic Irish ideologues and politicians between the 1610s and 1660s. These Gaelic Irishmen not only argued that the Protestant Stuarts had lost the right to rule the Irish kingdom, and that only heretics could be truly barbarous. They also argued that the English Irish were so tainted by their Englishness that they would have to be excluded from the projected Catholic re-conquest of Ireland.Less
Chapter three outlines a series of anti-English arguments made by a series of well-educated Gaelic Irish ideologues and politicians between the 1610s and 1660s. These Gaelic Irishmen not only argued that the Protestant Stuarts had lost the right to rule the Irish kingdom, and that only heretics could be truly barbarous. They also argued that the English Irish were so tainted by their Englishness that they would have to be excluded from the projected Catholic re-conquest of Ireland.
Aldo Civico
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520288515
- eISBN:
- 9780520963405
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520288515.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Latin American Cultural Anthropology
The chapter presents the terror strategy used by paramilitaries in Colombia. In particular, it chronicles the takeover of two towns in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The paramilitary’s ...
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The chapter presents the terror strategy used by paramilitaries in Colombia. In particular, it chronicles the takeover of two towns in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The paramilitary’s spectacular violence is a violence meant to purify, to cleanse. The author chronicles his fieldwork in the town of Granada, for a long time dominated by the guerrillas. The paramilitary penetrated the town one morning, randomly killing several people. The testimony of the people gives tales of terror. A paramilitary explains what the purpose of their social cleansing is.Less
The chapter presents the terror strategy used by paramilitaries in Colombia. In particular, it chronicles the takeover of two towns in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The paramilitary’s spectacular violence is a violence meant to purify, to cleanse. The author chronicles his fieldwork in the town of Granada, for a long time dominated by the guerrillas. The paramilitary penetrated the town one morning, randomly killing several people. The testimony of the people gives tales of terror. A paramilitary explains what the purpose of their social cleansing is.
