Literary Picaros and Picaras and their Travels in Early Modern Spain

FAIN: FV-50159-07

University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL 33146-2919)
Anne J. Cruz (Project Director: March 2007 to June 2009)

A four-week seminar for fifteen school teachers on the picaresque literature of early modern Spain, to be held in Salamanca, Toledo, Sevilla, and Madrid, and conducted in Spanish.

The seminar will introduce participants to the picaresque novel, a revolutionary new genre that emerged in early modern Spain. The novels narrate the experiences of poor youths who survived by their wits in an increasingly corrupt society. To integrate the study of the picaresque genre with Spanish history and to understand a crucial epoch in early modern Spain, we will follow the picaros' footsteps to explore the exact sites where the novels took place. In Salamanca and Toledo, we will study the lives of the poor in La Celestina and Lazarillo de Tormes. In Sevilla and Madrid, we will investigate the development of urban centers that attracted such fictional picaros and picaras as Mateo Aleman's Guzman de Alfarache, Francisco de Quevedo's Buscon, Cervantes's Rinconete and Cortadillo, and Maria de Zayas' Isidora to attain a better life for themselves. On-site lectures will emphasize visual and material aspects of the period, with visits to museums, churches, and hospitals.