Although Calderon formulates an eloquent refutation of racialist discourse against Muslims, my thesis concentrates on the issue that his play-writing reinforces the Cristocentric ideology on the need for conversion. In order to determine some of his influences and inspirations, I have reviewed the literature dealing with the Muslim subject in Spain from approximately the eleventh to the seventeenth centuries. Drawing on postcolonial hermeneutics and social psychology, I explored the way in which the image of the Muslim is constructed, wavering between an aggressive representation meant to promote rejection, and a narcisistic reflection fostering the appropriation through conversion. Both postures presuppose a distinction upon religious levels which has remained constant throughout the literature studied in this thesis. / By analysing some plays by Lope de Vega and Cervantes it became obvious that the fast reflects, with some exceptions, the dominant prejudices of his audience by presenting stereotyped characters of Muslim descent. Cervantes, on the other hand, provides a polyphony of voices which makes his plays peculiarly ambiguous for the inattentive reader. These, although exceptional in their humane view of the world, consistently maintained Muslims and Christians distinct and separate, albeit within relatively expansive categories. / Calderon uses a lopesque model of the bobo and conserves Cervantes' Weltanschauung. Nevertheless, his main aim can be directly traced to the counter-expulsion polemics of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century intellectuals, who attempted to find a solid foundation on which to base Christian indoctrination. Utilizing a typologic and providential version of history, Calderon attempts to convince his Christian public that they should improve themselves spiritually in order to convert Muslims, who in turn should pursue proselitist activities in their respective countries. The Muslims predisposed to conversion are therefore presented as clearly differentiated from the ones who aren't, associating the first with courtly ideals and the others with diabolic manifestations. A necessary element for successful conversion of people of distinct cultures is the elimination of the myth of "purity of blood," which Calderon defeats categorically. All in all, his insistence upon the absolute necessity of a sincere application of Christian doctrine anticipates the disaster which those who conceived the conversion program could not avoid.

The goal of this dissertation is to study the use, function and possibilities of the classical concept of imagination in the "comedias" of Pedro Calderon de la Barca (1600--1681). To begin, I explore the possibilities and limitations of imagination at three different levels: literary and aesthetic theory, psychological and gnoseological theory, and lastly that of cosmology. / Thus, after tracing the presence of the concept of imagination in all of Calderon's "comedias," I study its use in the dramatic discourse of Pinciano and Bances Candamo. Likewise, I discuss the ambiguities of this concept that Calderon himself openly explored in several of his plays. Later, I focus on an analysis and interpretation of imagination in La vida es sueno (Life is a Dream), particularly as it concerns the relationships between mankind and the universe, as well as the imaginative and dramatic possibilities of dreaming. / My next step deals with the relationship between theories of drama and imagination. This concentrates on: the way in which the author plays and manipulates the audience's affections, the creation of marvellous dramatic effects, and the relationship between imagination and performance. After, I analyze the interaction between physical senses and imagination, as well as the public's perception influenced by sophisticated staging techniques. Lastly, I discuss three crucial concepts, those of taste, public opinion and disillusionment ("desengano"), that are for Calderon obvious limitations to the possibilities of imagination.

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This thesis is dedicated to establishing ways in which the image of Calderon was perceived and constructed by the thinkers of the Enlightenment, of both conservative and reformist convictions, as part of their efforts to create and impose their own understanding of what Spanish national identity is or should be like. / The thesis concentrates on the writings of several of the most important intellectuals of the XVIII century who took part in the heated debate as to the value of Calderon's work: Blas Nasarre y Ferriz, Tomas Erauso y Zabaleta, Nicolas Fernandez de Moratin, Cristobal Romea y Tapia, Jose Clavijo y Fajardo and Francisco Mariano Nipho. / The first two chapters of the thesis deal with the way by which the image of Calderon has been used in order to support certain ideological convictions, in particular, a certain way of understanding Spanish national identity. Chapter three examines the polemics itself, from its beginning in 1749 until the mid-sixties of the XVIII century. A brief section of conclusions closes the thesis, followed by a selected bibliography.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the process of manipulation of the image of the Golden Age playwright Pedro Calderon de la Barca (1600--1681) during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Intellectuals of all political stripes sought to impose their own agendas by advancing both conservative and reformist convictions as they used the figure of Calderon to their own advantage in the creation of a 'Spanish national identity' for the time. / The research conducted here focuses on the writings of various thinkers of the rival ideologies over the two centuries mentioned above. What this demonstrates most cogently is how, first, the appropriation of Calderon's image always played an essential role in the political debate about 'national identity,' and, secondly, how the dramatist's image was increasingly identified with the values and parameters of conservative ideology. / The first chapter deals with the origins of the debate about the idea of a 'national identity' during the eighteenth century, and analyses in detail the ideological duality and division which characterized this debate as well as its strongly political background. The next two chapters examine respectively the writings of Bohl de Faber and Menendez Pelayo, both of whom took on key roles in the debate. The interpretation provided in these two chapters leads to the conclusion that, by the nineteenth century, Calderon's image was strongly identified with conservative ideology. The thesis ends with some final conclusions, followed by a select bibliography.

This thesis examines the image of the absent mother, and its implications, in a limited selection of plays by Pedro Calderon de la Barca. The characters studied are Segismundo and Rosaura from La vida es sueno , Semiramis from La hija del aire and Focas, Eraclio y Leonido from En la vida todo es verdad y todo mentira. The study was done from a psychoanalytic perspective, using as reference the theories of Erik Erikson, Jacques Lacan and John Bowlby. Erikson's ideas are based on Freud but with some changes, since he represents the ego's functions as well as a greater elaboration of classic psychoanalytical concepts. His main argument is that the ego's nature is determined not only by inner forces but by social and cultural influences. His theory encompasses a series of psychological development stages that occur throughout an individual's life cycle. Jacques Lacan obtained international fame through his personal interpretation of---and rupture with---Freud. The main emphasis of his work is in the importance of language as the mirror of the unconscious mind. John Bowlby is considered one of the most important psychiatrists of the twentieth century. His attachment theory is one of the principle theoretical developments in psychoanalysis in the latter part of this century. The purpose of this investigation was to give an explanation of the selected characters and their psychological development based on the proposed theories. The consequences of maternal deprivation and isolation manifest themselves in the development of the personality of the characters, mainly impeding the normal formation of the ego and super ego.

Informe de Seminario para optar al grado de Licenciado en Lengua y Literatura Hispánica mención Literatura / Autor no autoriza el acceso a texto completo de su documento.

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