-
How to cook a cat: Marginal Space in 17th Century Spanish Short Theater
- Author(s):
- Antonio Guijarro-Donadiós (see profile)
- Date:
- 2017
- Group(s):
- Iberian Theater and Performance Network (ITPN)
- Subject(s):
- Sixteenth century, Seventeenth century
- Item Type:
- Conference paper
- Conf. Title:
- Marginality in Spanish Theater
- Conf. Org.:
- MLA
- Conf. Loc.:
- New York
- Conf. Date:
- 5-6 January 2017
- Tag(s):
- 2017 MLA 217, 16th century, 17th century
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6HN8C
- Abstract:
- The image of a courtly and cosmopolitan Madrid that enjoyed an intense cultural life, where millions were spent on luxurious festivals that attracted famous artists and travelers, also contained a marginal space, where poor people, the crippled, thieves, soldiers, gamblers, prostitutes, and black people lived and made a living, even cooking cats to survive. Where the long walks along the Prado at sunset lost their gallantry, and became spaces of the night where ruffians challenged each other to duels and ended up, in most cases, in the overpopulated jails of the kingdom. Where the domestic space was transformed into house brothels and gambling dens, full of gamblers and on-lookers. Where in the streets, one didn’t go only to shop but to beg for alms, do cons and rob, or where the churches, a place of knowledge and shelter, became places to hide amorous and clandestine meetings, and where prostitutes, thieves, and murderers hid to escape the law. In this talk I will examine the social meaning of this underworld in 17th century urban Madrid from the perspective of marginality. My interpretation of the urban centers explores baroque Madrid as space of conflict. From this conflict new ways of speaking, living, writing, and reinventing urban landscapes arise. Many of the short pieces that were written in that time articulate their plots through the relationships between marginal society and the established power structures and exhibit social changes in light of the economic processes associated with the development of Madrid as the imperial capital.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 6 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
mla__guijarro.pdf