Although controversial, the theory that the Romancero (ballad genre) resulted from the disintegration of cantares de gesta in the late Middle Ages is generally accepted in current Spanish literary scholarship. The romances (ballads) based on epic themes of Castilian history occupy a key position in this theory, since they are considered to be the oldest and the closest to the epics from which the Romancero originated. In an attempt to justify or to disprove this claim, the present study investigates the thematic contents of the romances viejos based on Castilian subjects. Utilising the edition of old romances gathered by Ferdinand Wolf and Conrad Hofmann in their Primavera y flor de romances, these romances are analysed, and compared on the one hand with the extant epic poems, and on the other with the chronicle texts in which poems no longer extant were prosified. The romances chosen for analysis are from the cycles of the following heroes: Bernardo del Carpio (Chapter I), Fernán González (Chapter II), Infantes de Lara (Chapter III) and El Cid (Chapters IV-VII). The cycle of El Cid is divided into the separate categories of Mocedades de Rodrigo (Chapter IV), the partition of the kingdoms and resulting fratricidal wars (Chapter V), the siege of Zamora (Chapter VI), and the conquest of Valencia and punishment of the Infantes de Carridn (Chapter VII). The evidence acquired by this reanalysis of the romances and their possible sources allows the following conclusions: 1. There is a diachronic continuity in the elaboration of epic texts, as seen in the romances of Fernán González, the Infantes de Lara and the Cid series. Some of these reelaborations were in all probability in prose while others were in verse. In the latter case, a tendency is demonstrated toward the restriction of the narrative to a few popular motifs, and in particular that of the confrontation between king and vassal. The authors of the romances took up this confrontation motif in creating some of the most popular ballads of the genre. 2. There is a diachronic continuity in the transmission of the original, unelaborated epic material, both in oral and in written form. This conservatism is seen in the romances of Bernardo del Carpio. and in those dealing with the partition of the kingdoms and the siege of Zamora. 3. There was clearly erudite participation of chroniclers and others in the reworking of epic material, as seen in the romances of the Infantes de Lara and the Cid series. Some of this reworking involved the favouring of certain epic poems which best reflected the chroniclers' historiographical points of view, but in other cases these unknown authors even created new episodes or reinterpreted ambiguous points to give a new turn to the old narratives. 4. In the process of transmission of epic narratives, some prose texts were written by adapting chronicle material to make it more appealing to a popular audience. The present investigation has found evidence of the creation of many old epic romances by resort to these popular adaptations. Thus, chronicle sources appear to be of greater importance in the origin and development of the romances viejos, and in the transmission of epic themes, than current theory allows. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

The Historia de la Nueva Mexico, by Gaspar Perez de Villagra, has been one of the less studied epic poems in Hispanic American literary criticism. The purpose of this study is to show the text's literary characteristics and justify its inclusion within the tradition of Ariosto's romanzi, which was earlier followed by La Araucana, paradigm of the epic discourse in Hispanic America. The analysis borrows from a structuralist-narratologic methodology developed in the works of Gerard Genette, Felix Martinez Bonatti, Cedomil Goic and Julia Kristeva. The study begins with the analysis of the different definitions of 'epic genre' from Aristotle and Horatio to the twentieth century and the theories of Genette about architextuality. Once establishing the definitions, the study proceeds to differentiate between the two generic variants: the romance and the epic. The purpose here is to show that the principles of textual disposition applied by epic authors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Hispanic America belong to the romance, and this gives the discourse a very distinct structural physiognomy. A comparative analysis of some of the best known epic poems in Hispanic America show their structural singularity, as well as their inclusion within Ariosto's tradition. The texts analyzed are: Arauco domado, Peregrino indiano, Puren indomito, Argentina y Conquista del Rio de la Plata, La Christiada, and Bernardo. In Chapter Four the study centers on the transtextual relationships established between La Araucana and Villagra's poem, which determine the individuality of the Historia de la Nueva Mexico and its inclusion within the Hispanic American literary canon. The poem's uniqueness is based on its peculiar narrative structure, the hypertextual relationship it maintains with the Ercillan paradigm, as well as the juxtaposition of codes that determine an intertextual space. This space is the aesthetic image of ideological tensions in the narrator's perspective. It is the tensions which place both the narrator and the text within the ideological and artistic parameters of the Baroque period.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 2, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-79).

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This thesis edits and compares two diaries written during one of the earliest Spanish expeditions into Texas during 1691-1692. The first governor of the Province of the Tejas Indians, Domingo Ter??n de los R??os, steered the military and exploratory aspects of this significant expedition during 1691 and 1692, while Father Dami??n Massanet investigated the anticipated establishment of missions in the frontier borderland of New Spain. Both men kept individual accounts of the expedition at the behest of the Crown. Textual evidence for these diaries consists of the original manuscript of Ter??n??s diary with three extant copies, and Massanet??s original manuscript with two copies. Until now, unedited transcriptions and an English-language translation have served as the source for historical studies of this expedition, but to date none of these manuscripts has been edited critically. Having compared systematically the most reliable manuscript of Ter??n??s diary, as well as the original Massanet diary, this thesis presents findings that pertain to the shared and divergent content and language found in the diaries. The findings include new historical information and clarification of discrepancies in daily events, distances traveled, assignment of names to specific places, and interactions with the indigenous population. The differences manifested in each diary highlight the disparity in purpose and perspective between a military expedition and a spiritual mission. Likewise, the findings underscore the challenges and differences of opinion faced by two leaders of a consolidated expedition. This thesis includes an introductory chapter with the following segments: background of the two expeditions of 1689 and 1690 that preceded and laid the foundation for the third, more ambitious expedition of Ter??n and Massanet; an overview of the third expedition; and a review of the literature concerning the expedition. The second chapter concerns the transcriptions of the diaries of Ter??n and Massanet, and contains the following divisions: methodology; descriptions of both manuscripts; the norms of transcription; the transcription of Massanet??s manuscript; and the transcription of Ter??n??s manuscript that corresponds to the dates of the Massanet diary. After the transcriptions is an analysis of the first month of the expedition, from May 16 to June 16. This analysis deals with the content and language of the diaries. The final chapter presents conclusions and areas for future research. This work is relevant for historians, linguists, philologists, anthropologists, archeologists and other scholars interested in the history of the Spanish Southwest.

This thesis edits and compares two diaries written during one of the earliest Spanish expeditions into Texas during 1691-1692. The first governor of the Province of the Tejas Indians, Domingo Ter??n de los R??os, steered the military and exploratory aspects of this significant expedition during 1691 and 1692, while Father Dami??n Massanet investigated the anticipated establishment of missions in the frontier borderland of New Spain. Both men kept individual accounts of the expedition at the behest of the Crown. Textual evidence for these diaries consists of the original manuscript of Ter??n??s diary with three extant copies, and Massanet??s original manuscript with two copies. Until now, unedited transcriptions and an English-language translation have served as the source for historical studies of this expedition, but to date none of these manuscripts has been edited critically. Having compared systematically the most reliable manuscript of Ter??n??s diary, as well as the original Massanet diary, this thesis presents findings that pertain to the shared and divergent content and language found in the diaries. The findings include new historical information and clarification of discrepancies in daily events, distances traveled, assignment of names to specific places, and interactions with the indigenous population. The differences manifested in each diary highlight the disparity in purpose and perspective between a military expedition and a spiritual mission. Likewise, the findings underscore the challenges and differences of opinion faced by two leaders of a consolidated expedition. This thesis includes an introductory chapter with the following segments: background of the two expeditions of 1689 and 1690 that preceded and laid the foundation for the third, more ambitious expedition of Ter??n and Massanet; an overview of the third expedition; and a review of the literature concerning the expedition. The second chapter concerns the transcriptions of the diaries of Ter??n and Massanet, and contains the following divisions: methodology; descriptions of both manuscripts; the norms of transcription; the transcription of Massanet??s manuscript; and the transcription of Ter??n??s manuscript that corresponds to the dates of the Massanet diary. After the transcriptions is an analysis of the first month of the expedition, from May 16 to June 16. This analysis deals with the content and language of the diaries. The final chapter presents conclusions and areas for future research. This work is relevant for historians, linguists, philologists, anthropologists, archeologists and other scholars interested in the history of the Spanish Southwest.

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This study encompasses the development of the Sibyl Chant in Spain from its early beginnings within the liturgy as a musical piece, through its growth into a dramatic ceremony associated with the Play of the Prophets, its move from Latin into the vernacular and details of its performance, to its formal abolition in the sixteenth century. The Latin Sibylline poem, Judicii siqnum, which first appears in St. Augustine's City of God and the sermon Contra Judaeos, Paganos; et Arianos, prophesies the events on Judgement Day. Its entry into the liturgy in Spain is examined in the first chapter which, drawing on hitherto undiscovered examples of the chant from the ninth century to the fifteenth, concludes that, although the text of the chant my have been known within the Hispanic rite, its music is a product of French ecclesiastical influence. With its establishment within the liturgy and subsequent dissemination across the Peninsula by the house of Cluny, it was sung in almost every cathedral city until the sixteenth century as part of the sixth or ninth lesson of Christmas Matins. The second chapter traces its development into a dramatic ceremony in the fifteenth century. A study of known texts from Catalonia, and hitherto unknown examples of the sermon with rubrics indicating dramatic activity from an early date in Castile, concludes that the Sibyl ceremony was a product of the Ordo Prophetarum. From the thirteenth century, the Latin of the chant was often superceded by the vernacular. A comparison, in the third chapter, of Catalan and Castilian versions reveals that they owe little to the Judicii siqnum, and Provengal examples which have been considered their Source, and a Catalan troubadour influence is argued. The final chapter explores the practice of the Sibyl ceremony, with details of its performance: its liturgical position, costume, staging, attendant practices and final prohibition.

The novel Sudden death /Muerte súbita written by Álvaro Enrigue is analysed in this study, using the theoretical contributions of Werner Wolf and Irina Rajewsky, the typology of intermediality, and the model of modalities and modes of media elaborated by Lars Elleström.         The aim of this study lies, first on the blending of different media within the novel, the question of pictorial narrative, and argues that images narratives can generate the diegesis in Álvaro Enrigue's book. Second, to analyze how the mentioned intermedial relations to the paintings can create a meaning in the novel.       The novel by Enrigue relates some paintings of the Italian painter Caravaggio such as The calling of St. Matthew, Marta and Magdalena, Judith beheading Holofernes and Basket of fruits that have become important in creating the understandings the History of Mexico and the History of Spain. This intermedial study of the work of Enrigue "Sudden death" has shown that words have the power to represent images as well as give us the possibility of expanding the visuality of the media that are present in a literary text.