Alice Brooke
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198816829
- eISBN:
- 9780191858406
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198816829.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This study analyses the autos sacramentales, or Eucharistic plays, by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–95). It focusses on their relationship to the changing currents of philosophical thought in the ...
More
This study analyses the autos sacramentales, or Eucharistic plays, by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–95). It focusses on their relationship to the changing currents of philosophical thought in the late-seventeenth century Hispanic world, from a mindset characterized by scepticism, Neostoicism, and suspicion of the material world as a source of truth, to an empirical approach to the natural world that understood the information received by the senses as a fallible, yet useful, provisional source of knowledge. By examining each play in turn, along with the introductory loa with which they were intended to be performed, the study explores how each drama seeks to integrate empirical ideas with a Catholic understanding of transubstantiation. At the same time, each individual study identifies new sources for these plays, and demonstrates how these illuminate, or nuance, present readings of the works. The study of El divino Narciso employs a previously little-known source to illuminate its Christological readings, as well as Sor Juana’s engagement with notions of wit and conceptism. The analysis of El cetro de José explores her presentation of different approaches to perception to emphasize the importance of both the material and the transcendent in understanding the sacraments. The final section, on San Hermenegildo, explores the influence of the Christianized stoicism of Justus Lipsius, and demonstrates how Sor Juana used this work to attempt her most ambitious reconciliation of an empirical approach to the material world with a Neostoic approach to Christian morality and orthodox Catholic sacramental theology.Less
This study analyses the autos sacramentales, or Eucharistic plays, by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–95). It focusses on their relationship to the changing currents of philosophical thought in the late-seventeenth century Hispanic world, from a mindset characterized by scepticism, Neostoicism, and suspicion of the material world as a source of truth, to an empirical approach to the natural world that understood the information received by the senses as a fallible, yet useful, provisional source of knowledge. By examining each play in turn, along with the introductory loa with which they were intended to be performed, the study explores how each drama seeks to integrate empirical ideas with a Catholic understanding of transubstantiation. At the same time, each individual study identifies new sources for these plays, and demonstrates how these illuminate, or nuance, present readings of the works. The study of El divino Narciso employs a previously little-known source to illuminate its Christological readings, as well as Sor Juana’s engagement with notions of wit and conceptism. The analysis of El cetro de José explores her presentation of different approaches to perception to emphasize the importance of both the material and the transcendent in understanding the sacraments. The final section, on San Hermenegildo, explores the influence of the Christianized stoicism of Justus Lipsius, and demonstrates how Sor Juana used this work to attempt her most ambitious reconciliation of an empirical approach to the material world with a Neostoic approach to Christian morality and orthodox Catholic sacramental theology.
Alice Brooke
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198816829
- eISBN:
- 9780191858406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198816829.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
The Introduction to this study explores the philosophical context in which Sor Juana wrote her Eucharistic plays. It traces the transition from a mindset characterized by scepticism and Neostoicism ...
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The Introduction to this study explores the philosophical context in which Sor Juana wrote her Eucharistic plays. It traces the transition from a mindset characterized by scepticism and Neostoicism to the advent of the New Philosophy and an empirical approach to the material world. In particular, it analyses how two authors, Athanasius Kircher and Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, attempted to reconcile empirical ideas with a Christian understanding of the natural world as a reflection of the divine. This chapter then demonstrates how traces of a similar philosophical approach are present in Sor Juana’s works, in particular in her explorations of the natural world, her writings on allegory, and her engagement with Christian figuration.Less
The Introduction to this study explores the philosophical context in which Sor Juana wrote her Eucharistic plays. It traces the transition from a mindset characterized by scepticism and Neostoicism to the advent of the New Philosophy and an empirical approach to the material world. In particular, it analyses how two authors, Athanasius Kircher and Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, attempted to reconcile empirical ideas with a Christian understanding of the natural world as a reflection of the divine. This chapter then demonstrates how traces of a similar philosophical approach are present in Sor Juana’s works, in particular in her explorations of the natural world, her writings on allegory, and her engagement with Christian figuration.
Alice Brooke
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198816829
- eISBN:
- 9780191858406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198816829.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
The Conclusion to this study summarizes the arguments made in the Introduction and three main chapters, exploring how the presence of empirical ideas in Sor Juana’s autos sacramentales situate her as ...
More
The Conclusion to this study summarizes the arguments made in the Introduction and three main chapters, exploring how the presence of empirical ideas in Sor Juana’s autos sacramentales situate her as a ‘bridge’ between older ways of thinking and modern epistemological approaches. In particular, it emphasizes the importance of understanding Sor Juana’s treatment of typology and transubstantiation in the autos and their loas in the context of her explorations of the natural world through the methods of the New Philosophy, and of her emphasis on the ‘wondrous harmony’ that is present throughout creation, and which is crucial to understanding both the natural world, and human creative endeavour. Building on these conclusions, it suggests four ways in which the recognition of the significance of the New Philosophy to Sor Juana’s autos points to new directions in research into both her own works, and to the context in which they were produced.Less
The Conclusion to this study summarizes the arguments made in the Introduction and three main chapters, exploring how the presence of empirical ideas in Sor Juana’s autos sacramentales situate her as a ‘bridge’ between older ways of thinking and modern epistemological approaches. In particular, it emphasizes the importance of understanding Sor Juana’s treatment of typology and transubstantiation in the autos and their loas in the context of her explorations of the natural world through the methods of the New Philosophy, and of her emphasis on the ‘wondrous harmony’ that is present throughout creation, and which is crucial to understanding both the natural world, and human creative endeavour. Building on these conclusions, it suggests four ways in which the recognition of the significance of the New Philosophy to Sor Juana’s autos points to new directions in research into both her own works, and to the context in which they were produced.
