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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.84207 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Walzer, Hanaaʾ A. |
| Contributors | Perez-Magallon, Jesus (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | sp |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Hispanic Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001984870, proquestno: AAINQ88597, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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