Cervantes, Numancia and Entremes

El pensamiento de CervantesAmerico Castro, humanism in Cervantes (Erasmaus)Excellent book, but then he recants.

Christians, Muslims and Jews: he defines them as castes rather than class based social distinction. Groundwork for people who talk about race. However, raza originally meant family lineage, (lineage) but in Latin America in later time hardened into colonial ideas of race. Attitudes that Spanish confronted in the Iberia import and transform in Latin America; terms like morisca in caza paintings. Coincides with raise of natural science and animal husbandry (names for racial convergence).

Numancia:1580s as growing pains leading to mature Spanish theatre but not there yet. Wide diversity of forms being used and performed on stage in 1580s, before Lope de Vega develops the forms and conventions.

1515, ocho comedias and entremesesas well as unperformed longer plays like Banos of Argel and La Gran Sultana; Numantia was performed. First time plays circulated for a reading volume; except the Cervantine plays that were rejected by the theatrical companies.

Bakhtin has range of novelized genres, that other non-novelistic genres exhibit in other forms. That he would publish plays for a reader’s audience who can glean more from them then a play-going audience. Means more complex content, open endings which audiences must resolve in their own mind (as in Quijote, which you get multiples perspectives thrown at you which the reader must resolve in their own mind).

Numancia, 1583

Entremes performed between plays; Cervantes’ entremeses revealing ideas of limpieza, integrity, showing Spanish honor as false.

Pasos of Lope de Rueda, Typical of entremes; grandparent of entremes. Light comic fluff involving two or three characters. Las Zaytunas; husband and wife get in argument about planting olives in garden. Fight over money that you get from planting olives and they haven’t planted them yet.

El Retablo is the most complex; itself a play within a play, which mimics generic purpose of entremes. Commenting on relationship between audience and theatrical performance. Metatheatrical. No wonder that theatrical companies would say we can’t put this on.

La Cava of Salamanca, comes from Boccacio

Divorce Court, problematic marriageEnd in a song that celebrates marriage; Cervantes parodying music that conventionally comes at the entremes, the theme of the song is completely at odds with the stories that are depicted.

El celoso extremeno: theme of jealous old man keeping his young wife under lock and key. In Cervantes, novella exemplar of el celoso extremeno tied to The cave of Salamanca, that is tied to the first marriage depicted in the Judge of Divorce Court. From Boccaccio and folktale, and medieval literature

Entremes; fusion of elite and popular materials, and certain markers of Cervantes the novelist impacting the plays/entemes. Qualties that made them difficult to perform made them wonderful reading material for an audience of readers; and makes them popular now.

NumantiaReinterpreting classical tragedy.

Juan de la Cueva

Argensola brothers.

Other people trying to interpret Aristotelian views of tragedy for Spanish stage; the Poetics had just been discovered in Spain. Not a classical Aristotelian. Blending of traditions; Aristotelian, Seneacan (blending of blood and violence), comic traditions. Not a faithful Aristotelian tragedy, but rather blending multiple antecedents to create a Spanish style.

Historical drama on heroic theme expressed through classical precepts. How Numantinos are depicted vs Romans (conquest, fame, victory). Personified figure of Fame denies him at end. Binary of civilization and barbarism is inverted, Romans are barbarous in how they are depicted; Numantinos are heroic, they talk of love, community, self-sacrifice. Cervantes urges for audience to identify with positive values of the Numantinos. Mars—. Venus—nurturing.

From perspective of Romans, Venus is weakeness; but the Numantinos show there is strength from Tiernos, amados, amorosos (loving), libre. It’s the Numantinos built up as

Something inherent in Spain as a personified figure will be reborn in the moment of Spanish empire; Cervantes is acknowledging the limpieza de sangre. The audience believes themselves as rebirth of Roman empire, and their Christianity links them with Visigoths. The prophecy of Duero (that Cervantes invented to summarize history for audience) but to create a link between Visigothic and Christian spain.

Sharp spear and mercy must be combined in Spain; Cervantes says that Venus and Mars must be combined. The audience will recognize that that kind of nobility, tenderness, self sacrifice are positive values for Spain; and

Spain is now the empire conquering indigenous populations abroad; crisis, when Spain about to lose empire. This is post-Las Casas. Moral crisis, will Spain go the way of Rome or become a new form of empire? Fama at the end, speaks collectively to the audience; Numantia fell according to the Prophecy, to allow Rome to come which fell, to allow Goths to come. Numantia sacrified so we would be here this moment; this is upto us to decide what the happy ending of our empire will be. Writing at end, when economy starting to fail, when colonies are starting to become more indp, at cusp of Spanish decadence, between Lepanto and the Spanish Armada.

Anagnoris in classical tragedy projects out in audience; its upto us to do sthg, to be better ppl

Cervantes wants the reader actively engaged to participate, make sense of things, and resolve things. Doesn’t want idle readers—first word of Quijote, “idle reader why are you reading my book?”

Creation myth for Spanish empire, but also build a collective identity in audience around values of Numantinos. Wants audience to reaffirm collectively these principles, between past and present, between audience and actors.

Numantinos propose peace, singular battle (Romans want blood, destruction, conquest).