LOS BENGOCHEA VILLEGAS DE SILIO -CANTABRIA

Hispanic American Historical Review, 2016

one might expect in such a synthesis, Aztec culture is pessimistic, underdeveloped, and centered on a religion that depended upon the ritual and ideology of human sacrifice. "Violence, and the threat of its use, was endemic in Indo-Mexico" (p. 68). In the face of foreign invasion, "the worldview of the Aztecs began to unravel" (p. 108); "their worldview appeared incapable of placing events, real or imagined, in a useful explanatory context" (p. 109). Such conclusions are the heirs to threads of interpretation that go back to the Franciscans and Dominicans in sixteenth-century Mexico, touching along the way upon popular histories and scholarly studies alike written in many disciplines, languages, and times. In other words, MacLachlan never attempts to challenge that historiography but merely to encapsulate it in an engaging and accessible synthesis that never strays into jargon or historiographical pedantry and is often colorful and lively. Yet if this is a textbook, it is one with an unusual feature. A book about how the origins of Mexican culture lie in the events of the sixteenth century, especially one that adopts the method and form of a synthesis, would most typically and obviously offer some background material-introductory sections or chapters on Mexico and Spain before the two came together in 1519. Sure enough, MacLachlan provides such material, but he unpredictably gives it as much attention as he does to what happens after 1519: the book's four chapters actually comprise three parts, each 70 or so pages, on the Aztecs, Spain, and sixteenth-century Mexico, respectively. Put another way, this textbook's background chapters are two-thirds of the book. That element of structural originality opens up various pedagogic possibilities; indeed, one imagines the book being deployed productively in the classroom. In this respect, and in the other ways in which it seems to elude clear genre categorization, this unusual and readable book will surely stimulate discussion and debate.

Hispania, 2007

in CosMo (Comparative Studies in Modernism), "Fantastico e ideologia, (Edited by Anna Boccuti, Alessandra Massoni and David Roas) 24 (Spring), 2024, pp. 129-142. https://doi.org/10.13135/2281-6658/10698

Considering Venice as seminal literary topos as many Hispanic and Hispanic American writers of the second half of the XX century did, in this article we analyze different texts by Juan Perucho who ‘portrays’ the lagunar city steeped in history. They are little-known texts, with dense literary and historical references, from “lyrical cells” (cf. P. Gimferrer) to short fabulations in prose; where the historiographical precision -always questionable- is created telling deliberately improbable stories that are paradoxically much more truthful than the real one. From these texts emerge that inventing a ‘fantastic’ Venice serves Perucho precisely to demonstrate -as Calvino did with his trilogy Our Ancestors, in the same years- that it is easier to approach a “revivalistic” interpretation of history (cf. C. Argan) i.e. imagining an anachronistic revitalization of the past, instead of believing that it is possible to narrate the lost past of a unique place only by knowing it historically.

Laberinto 12, 2019

Enrique García Santo-Tomás has us accustomed to remarkably high scholarly productions that can be used both for teaching and for research, and more evidence of his know-how is this edition of the book Día y noche en Madrid (1663) by Francisco Santos (1623-98), one of the “novatores” o “costumbristas” from the second half of the seventeenth century. The current review is of an edition based on the 1663 princeps, but the book was published three more times during Santos’ life (1666, 1674, 1693). In the eighteenth century it was published four times, in addition to three more editions issued in France and Spain in the nineteenth century. The twentieth century produced three editions; the most remarkable being the 1976 edition by Milagros Navarro Pérez in the Instituto de Estudios Madrileños. Finally, García Santo-Tomás has published the first edition of the current century, which is a step forward in the scholarly work on Francisco Santos. Concerning Madrid during Philipp IV’s reign, García Santo-Tomas has proven his work to be a steady guide for the recovery of somewhat neglected authors from this part of seventeenth-century culture, such as Salas Barbadillo and Francisco Santos; in addition with the culture of the material world in Madrid, one the most important metropoles of the times. In this edition, aspects such as medicine, material culture, birthing, midwives, hungry children, storms, poverty, and plague, are all properly addressed. In addition, in the eighteen discourses that compose Día y noche de Madrid, García Santo-Tomás emphasizes aspects such as friendship among the vital anguish that percolates through the tribulations of the main characters Onofre, a Neapolitan, and his servant Juanillo, a Spanish rascal. Their movements develop against the backdrop of Madrid as body, where the bodies of the characters are subjected to all sorts of extreme tensions, both internal and external ones (p. 47). The traumatized body calls for medical attention, which in its turn opens the door to discourses about gender, reproduction, professions, nation, and etcetera (p. 51-63). The bibliography section contains a tripartite list that reflects the carefully written footnotes of the text. The first part contains bibliography on the socioeconomic, cultural and historical context of Día y noche de Madrid (pp. 71-76). The second part addresses the novel of the seventeenth century (pp. 76-79). Finally, the last section reflects on Francisco Santos and his Día y noche de Madrid (79-81). The latter is the scantest of the lists, which confirms the bleak attention that Santos’s work has among academics (p. 20). In fact, there is no complete and modern edition of the seventeen works he penned between 1663 and 1697 (p. 19). Día y noche de Madrid, as a fundamental work of Spanish prose in the 1660s helps us to deepen our understanding of the long-term manifestations of Baroque aesthetics that no doubt started already in 1599 with the first part of Guzmán de Alfarache. At the same time, the publication of more critical editions of dismissed Baroque works, such as Francis Santos’s, would help to re-insert Iberian cultural production into the on-going recovery of the Baroque as an academic category. Perhaps, in view of the contents of Día y noche de Madrid, the underuse of the category Baroque in Hispanisms and their literary criticism should be reconsidered; and an enticement to enter the international conversation (see the works by García-Santo Tomás, Yves Hersant, Gregg Lambert, Margaret Greer, David Castillo, Christopher D. Johnson, Emil Volek, Frédéric Conrod, Vincent Barletta, Hellen Hills, and John D. Lyons, among others) revalorizing and putting at the center of it the heritage of the Spanish language.

EGA. Revista de expresión gráfica arquitectónica, 2014

Durante el siglo xviii se cierra un proceso que termina de consolidar la profesión de Arquitecto en España, tanto en sus competencias, aprendizaje o estatus social, como en los propios modos de trabajar, su organización y desarrollo de las labores que le son encomendadas. En estos aspectos se incluye, inevitablemente, la representación del proyecto, herramienta de trabajo en todos los niveles de la concepción y expresión al exterior de lo que es sólo ideación, previa a su materialización. A la hora de establecer como se cierra este proceso y su resultado final, germen del proyecto moderno, parece la mejor fuente las descripciones realizadas por los tratadistas de la época, especialmente de aquellos que cuentan con mayor intención didáctica, entre los que sobresale el Rieger por ser el que más espacio dedique al asunto.

ENCLAVES DEL ROMÁNICO HISPANO: CONJUNTOS, PECULIARIDADES Y NUEVAS APORTACIONES, 2023

The Americas, 2019

Durante el siglo XVIII se cierra un proceso que termina de consolidar la profesión de Arquitecto en España, tanto en sus competencias, aprendizaje o estatus social, como en los propios modos de trabajar, su organización y desarrollo de las labores que le son encomendadas. En estos aspectos se incluye, inevitablemente, la representación del proyecto, herramienta de trabajo en todos los niveles de la concepción y expresión al exterior de lo que es sólo ideación, previa a su materialización. A la hora de establecer como se cierra este proceso y su resultado final, germen del proyecto moderno, parece la mejor fuente las descripciones realizadas por los tratadistas de la época, especialmente de aquellos que cuentan con mayor intención didáctica, entre los que sobresale el Rieger por ser el que más espacio dedique al asunto.

APL, 2024

More than eight decades after the finding, the stele of Sinarcas is today one of the banners of the Museum of Prehistory of Valencia and a relevant object of the Iberian culture in Valencia. In this paper we intend to provide new data on the circumstances of its discovery, to update the study of its inscription at a philological level and to insert it into its historical and spatial context: North of the Requena-Utiel Plateau, an area where the metallurgy seems to have played an important role in the complex Romanization process of the Iberian territory of Kelin. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Més de vuit dècades després de la seva troballa, l'estela de Sinarcas és ara com ara un dels estendards del Museu de Prehistòria de València i una peça insigne de la cultura ibèrica en l'àmbit valencià. En les següents línies pretenem aportar noves dades sobre les circumstàncies de la seva troballa, actualitzar a nivell filològic l'estudi de la seva inscripció i inserir-la en el context històric i espacial: el nord de la Meseta de Requena-Utiel, una zona on la metal·lúrgia sembla haver-hi jugat un paper important en el complex procés de romanització del territori ibèric de Kelin. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Más de ocho décadas después de su hallazgo, la estela de Sinarcas es hoy por hoy uno de los estandartes del Museu de Prehistòria de València y una pieza insigne de la cultura ibérica en el ámbito valenciano. En las siguientes líneas pretendemos aportar nuevos datos sobre las circunstancias de su hallazgo, actualizar a nivel filológico el estudio de su inscripción e insertarla en su contexto histórico y espacial: el norte de la Meseta de Requena-Utiel, una zona donde la metalurgia parece haber jugado un papel importante en el complejo proceso de romanización del territorio ibérico de Kelin.

2007

English Post-Apocalyptic Catalonia: The Figure of the Last Man in Manuel de Pedrolo’s Mecanoscrit del segon origen. This paper will attempt to prove the validity of an alternative reading of Manuel de Pedrolo’s 1974 novel Mecanoscrit del Segon Origen, which takes into account the sociopolitical context behind its production, considers valuable aspects of the authors biography and situates the novel within his ambitious project. In order to make this reading possible, this paper will begin with analyzing some of the novel’s formal aspects by focusing on particular details, such as its post-apocalyptic setting, the use of the Last Man motif to set up the plot, as well as the specific choice of a narration style. Relating these aspects to the context in which the work was written will eventually justify Pedrolo’s depiction of a post-apocalyptic Catalonia and use of the Last Man motif in his novel; the former to create an allegory of the situation of Catalan culture and language during the Spanish Transition to Democracy, the latter an unconscious reflection of Pedrolo’s own anxieties towards his often misunderstood literary project. By proving the validity of this different approach to this important Catalan novel, this paper does not only offer new insights into this particular work, but it also creates a contextual framework that can be extrapolated to other works by Pedrolo within the science fiction genre. Català Catalunya Post-apocalíptica: La figura de l'últim home en el Mecanoscrit del segon origen de Manuel de Pedrolo. En aquest treball es tractarà de demostrar la validesa d'una lectura alternativa de la novel·la escrita per Manuel de Pedrolo l'any 1974, Mecanoscrit del segon Origen, que tingui en compte el context sociopolític darrere de la seva producció, consideri aspectes valuosos de la biografia de l'autor i situï la novel·la dins del seu ambiciós projecte. Amb la finalitat de fer aquesta lectura possible, aquest treball s'iniciarà amb l'anàlisi d'alguns dels aspectes formals de la novel·la, centrant-se en detalls particulars, com el seu entorn post-apocalíptic, l'ús del motiu de l'últim home per construir el fil argumental, així com l'elecció concreta d'un estil narratiu particular. El fet de relacionar aquests aspectes amb el context en el qual va ésser escrita l'obra justificarà l'aparició d'una Catalunya post-apocalíptica i del motiu de últim home en la seva novel·la, la primera per crear una al·legoria de la situació de l'idioma i cultura catalanes durant la transició espanyola a la democràcia, i l'última un reflex inconscient de la pròpia ansietat de Pedrolo cap al seu projecte literari, sovint mal entès. En demostrar la validesa d'un nou enfocament d'aquesta important novel·la catalana, aquest treball no només ofereix noves perspectives sobre aquesta obra en particular, sinó que també crea un marc contextual que pot ser extrapolable a altres obres de Pedrolo dins del gènere de la ciència-ficció.

2009

2018

In Creating Conversos, Roger Louis Martínez-Dávila skillfully unravels the complex story of Jews who converted to Catholicism in Spain between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, migrated to colonial Mexico and Bolivia during the conquest of the Americas, and assumed prominent church and government positions. Rather than acting as alienated and marginalized subjects, the conversos were able to craft new identities and strategies not just for survival but for prospering in the most adverse circumstances. Martínez-Dávila provides an extensive, elaborately detailed case study of the Carvajal–Santa María clan from its beginnings in late fourteenth-century Castile. By tracing the family ties and intermarriages of the Jewish rabbinic ha-Levi lineage of Burgos, Spain (which became the converso Santa María clan) with the Old Christian Carvajal line of Plasencia, Spain, Martínez-Dávila demonstrates the family’s changing identity, and how the monolithic notions of ethnic and religious disposition were broken down by the group and negotiated anew as they transformed themselves from marginal into mainstream characters at the center of the economies of power in the world they inhabited. They succeeded in rising to the pinnacles of power within the church hierarchy in Spain, even to the point of contesting the succession to the papacy and overseeing the Inquisitorial investigation and execution of extended family members, including Luis de Carvajal “The Younger” and most of his immediate family during the 1590s in Mexico City. Martínez-Dávila offers a rich panorama of the many forces that shaped the emergence of modern Spain, including tax policies, rivalries among the nobility, and ecclesiastical politics. The extensive genealogical research enriches the historical reconstruction, filling in gaps and illuminating contradictions in standard contemporary narratives. His text is strengthened by many family trees that assist the reader as the threads of political and social relationships are carefully disentangled. “Creating Conversos represents an important contribution to medieval Spanish social and religious history. Its discussion of two extended and interrelated families, the Old Christian noble family of the Carvajals and the New Christian converso family of the ha-Levi/Santa Marías, breaks new ground in the exploration of the highly contested topic of the identity of the conversos in Spain in late medieval and early modern times. Through an exhaustive use of archival material, genealogical research, and, to a lesser degree, artistic representation, Martínez-Dávila explores a topic that, by its very nature, defies easy explanation.” —Jane Gerber, professor emerita, The Graduate Center, City University of New York ISBN: 978-0-268-10321-7 472 pages Publication Year: 2018

Música Oral del Sur, 2012

The decisive influence of the southern Iberian Peninsula in the New World and, specifically, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, is evident not just in its monopolization of European commerce with America but also in the significance and prestige of its musical centers, which served as sources of musical works for the Indies. This article contributes to the study of the dissemination of 18th century andalusian music in New Spain, focusing on a Christmas carol by Gregorio Portero, an important composer and Chapelmaster of Granada Cathedral between 1713 and 1755. The work, entitled "Cazadorcito se ha hecho el amor", was composed in Granada, presumably in 1733, and presents several singularities, among which are the fact that it is Portero's only known piece written in Castillian, its preservation in Guatemala, and the evidence of its performance in Guatemala Cathedral, whose archives hold the only known copy of this work. An appendix includes a critical edition of this carol, unpublished to date. Es de sobra conocido el decisivo papel jugado por el sur peninsular en las relaciones musicales con el Nuevo Mundo y, específicamente, con Nueva España, no sólo por haber monopolizado el comercio europeo con América, sino también por la importancia y prestigio de sus centros musicales, que funcionaron como potenciales depósitos de obras de música con destino a Indias. La presente contribución tiene por objeto profundizar en el estudio de la diáspora de la música dieciochesca andaluza en Nueva España, dando a conocer un villancico de Gregorio Portero, importante compositor y maestro de capilla de la Catedral de Granada entre 1713 y 1755. La obra en cuestión, que lleva por título "Cazadorcito se ha hecho el amor", fue compuesta en Granada, presumiblemente en 1733, y presenta varias singularidades, entre ellas su consideración -hasta donde sabemos- de única obra con texto en romance conocida hasta la fecha de Portero, su lugar de conservación y las evidencias de su interpretación en la Catedral de Guatemala, cuyo archivo conserva la única copia conocida de esta obra. Como apéndice musical presento la edición crítica de este villancico, inédito hasta la fecha.

The History of Modern Spain Shubert A. and Álvarez Junco (eds), 2019

The environment of the Iberian Peninsula is characterized by a number of features. Firstly, a substantial water scarcity occurs in most of the land due to the limited and variable rainfall. The high frequency of mountain ridges represents another physical limitation that limits all types of exchanges across boundaries. All those physical features have led to great biodiversity and high quality of landscapes. The last two centuries have witnessed large hydroelectric developments and massive reforestations. As a result of the 1898 crisis, there was a trend to fully exploit our natural resources as seen by the leaders of that generation who was trying to change ‘the geography of the motherland’. Such expansive policies were more related to territorial conflicts associated with interbasin water transfers directed towards the most productive regions from the agricultural standpoint. In any case, it was during Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975) through a combination of authoritarism and fast economic development that most of the landscape transformations took place. Nature preservation policies in Spain were launched relatively early in relation to Europe (in 1916), based on the American model of delineating national parks. It evolved throughout the 20th Century, paying more attention to geology that to ecological diversity. Nowadays, more than one fourth of Spain is protected, partly due to the role of the regional governments, and is the largest contributor of protected lands to the Natura network of the EU. Current problems are focused on planning and management of the protected areas. Intense urbanization and the abandoning of the rural areas with their depopulation took place later than in other Western EU countries but had even more intensity. Most urbanization took place in the coastal areas with the exception of Madrid, and was associated with tourism development in most of the Mediterranean coast. The high rates of urban coastal development represent a threat to the conservation of natural resources, in particular, land, water, energy and biodiversity. It can be said that the natural environment of Spain has suffered greatly from the accelerated urban development, and the time has come to identify novel policies for the correct management of the present status.