Cover image for Space, Drama, and Empire

Space, Drama, and Empire

by Javier Lorenzo

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Literary Criticism / GeneralLiterary Criticism / European / Spanish & PortugueseLiterary Criticism / Modern / 17th CenturyPerforming Arts / Theater / History & Criticism

Description

Spanish poet, playwright, and novelist Félix Lope de Vega (1562–1635) was a key figure of Golden Age Spanish literature, second only in stature to Cervantes, and is considered the founder of Spain’s classical theater. In this rich and informative study, Javier Lorenzo investigates the symbolic use of space in Lope’s drama and its function as an ideological tool to promote an imagined Spanish national past. In specific plays, this book argues, historical landscapes and settings were used to foretell and legitimize the imperial present in Hapsburg Spain, allowing audiences to visualize and plot, as on a map, the country’s expansionist trajectory throughout the centuries. By focusing on connections among space, drama, and empire, this book makes an important contribution to the study of literature and imperialism in early modern Spain and equally to our understanding of the role and political significance of spatiality in Siglo de Oro comedia.

Book Details

Publisher:
Rutgers University Press
Published:
2023-09-15
Pages:
201
Language:
EN
ISBN:
9781684484911