This study analyzes the humor in Alfonso de Valdes's Dialogo de las cosas ocurridas en Roma, (1527) and Dialogo de Mercurio y Caron (1529) and in Juan's Dialogo de doctrina cristiana (1529). Chapter I studies the lives and works of the Valdes brothers to show that they were reformers as well as humorists and that there was a definite literary, religious, and political link between Erasmus, Charles V, and them. The next three chapters determine that the humor of the Valdes brothers is not hilarious, but ironic satire. In Dialogo de las cosas ocurridas en Roma, the satire is didactic in pursuit of religious reform. The satirical barbs are aimed at the Pope, religious leaders, war, celibacy, relics, money and religious corruption in general. Alfonso expresses his humor through the typical satirical devices: understatements, overstatements, paradox, and irony. In Dialogo de doctrina cristiana, against the background of a comprehensive review of Christian doctrine, Juan ridicules the hypocrisy of Christians who worship the Virgin Mary by fasting and praying and clergymen who are caricatured as ignorant. Juan expresses his humor mainly through understatements, parody, irony, and mild satire. Dialogo de Mercurio y Caron presents a portrait of good and bad souls. The satire is Horatian with Juvenalian overtones. Alfonso denounces the characters' sins and follies but praises their virtues. The main jist of the didactic satire is that Christians do no obtain immortality by external works but by transformation of the inner life. The humor is expressed through hyperbole, caricature, reductio ad absurdum, understatement, overstatement, allegory, paradox, invective, and especially irony. The conclusion asserts that in their humor, the Valdes brothers followed Erasmus's example of criticizing ecclesiastical corruption, condemning external rites and ceremonies, defending / the inward nature of religious beliefs, returning to simplicity of Christian doctrine, and restoring faith, charity, and honesty. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-07, Section: A, page: 1786. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76110 |
| Contributors | BOLANOS, ELADIO PETER., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 217 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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