The Stone Host, Lesia Ukrainka’s “Spanish” Play

The article provides an analysis of the “Spanish code” inscribed in the text of Lesia Ukrainka’s drama Kaminnyi hospodar (The Stone Host). The constituents of the code include: 1) conventions of 17th century Spanish baroque drama, in particular, use of the dialectics of the concepts of dignity and reputation as a driving mechanism for confl ict throughout Lesia Ukrainka’s play and transformation within the classical scheme of characters suggested by Lope de Vega and his followers; 2) stereotypes of “Spanishness” through which the playwright produced a heteroimage of Spain. Lesia Ukrainka’s variant of the famous legend of Don Juan is a sophisticated modernist drama. The “Spanish code” serves as a prism through which the playwright examines the world. Lesia Ukrainka created an astonishing modernist tragicomedy of dishonesty, full of the spirit of uncertainty.

García Márquez and His Precursors

This article is interested in writers and literary traditions that have influenced García Márquez, whether stylistically or structurally, culturally or historically, or all of these. The article pays attention to the author’s comments and his appropriations of specific precursors, especially as he acknowledges them in his autobiography Living to Tell the Tale (2002). It takes Jorge Luis Borges’s tack and suggests that the process of influence moves back as well as forward in time, that influence is reciprocal and precursors may be influenced by García Márquez as well as influencing him. Among the dozens of authors who both influence and are influenced by García Márquez are Faulkner, Kafka, Garcilaso de la Vega, and Spanish baroque poets and playwrights. The article also discusses the influence of his grandmother’s storytelling and the deeply embedded cultural influence of Catholicism in Colombia. By attending to García Márquez’s complex relation with his precursors, the article shows that one may justifiably speak of una tradición gabrielina.

Holy Week and the Theater of Art: Sculpture, Retables, and the Spanish Baroque Aesthetic

In the 16th century, the social and political changes derived from the European religious wars between Catholic and Protestant countries, economic crises, and the Counter-Reformation had an enormous impact on the evolution of visual culture. These transformations drastically changed the way in which the Catholic faithful interacted with works of art. The exemplary uses given to the images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints were promoted as intermediaries between God and people. The intense realism in art served precisely this objective, since the faithful could recognize themself in these figures. In addition, the rise of the brotherhoods and penitentiary guilds led to the popularization of behaviors that imitated the Passion of Christ, such as public self-flagellation. Therefore, the Spanish processional sculpture was fully brought forward by many of these brotherhoods. Processions used theatrical resources and were very successful among the people. In the 17th century, the Hispanic baroque aesthetic was strongly linked to the Catholic Church and was especially evident during Holy Week. The public processions and their artistic resources were very successful, so much so that they have survived to the present, evolving and adapting to each period.

Die verstellte Exzellenz

The Dissimulated Excellence. Courtly Contradictions in Academic Application Procedures A standardized perfection is required from the perfect candidate in order to successfully compete for the best academic positions or scholarships. But what does excellence mean? This question will be examined in the article by means of the courtly literature of the Spanish Baroque. Courtly contradiction of any academic competition thus consists in presenting oneself as an excellence, which is considered inelegant and careless in terms of court culture, as it exaggerates one’s skills instead of critically examining them.

THE CUZCO SCHOOL PAINTING AS A WORLDVIEW MODEL

В статье рассматривается феномен кусканской школы живописи (одного из наиболее самобытных явлений культурной жизни не только стран Андского региона, но и всей Латинской Америки в колониальный период) как отражение мировоззрения индейцев колониального периода. Важность этих визуальных источников обусловлена тем, что они создавались самими индейцами, хотя и под контролем испанского клира с целью христианизации местного населения. Несмотря на значимость тематики и немалое количество посвященных ей исследований, многие аспекты проблемы еще не нашли исчерпывающего истолкования. Во многом это касается как раз идеологических и мировоззренческих аспектов. В связи с этим перед автором стояла задача рассмотреть полотна не с сугубо искусствоведческих, а с семиотических позиций: какие аспекты мировоззрения стоят за тем или иным символом и мотивом. Для решения этой задачи автор анализирует ряд живописных полотен школы Куско (наиболее перспективных с точки зрения целей исследования) с целью выявить содержащиеся в них мировоззренческие элементы, которые нашли отражение в образах, мотивах, цветопередаче. Проведение такого анализа невозможно без привлечения сравнительных данных из других источников по особенностям индейского мировоззрения, прежде всего письменных. Единовременность создания обеих групп источников позволяет проводить релевантные параллели относительно одних и тех же объектов исследования. В первую очередь для удобства и наглядности анализа автор проводит типологизацию мировоззренческих элементов по принципу происхождения. Традиционно их можно поделить на индейские, испано-христианские и смешанные. Автор также дает краткий обзор основных художественных традиций, оказавших влияние на становление школы (испанское барокко, индейские верования и элементы искусства и пр.). Анализ художественных и стилистических особенностей произведений с точки зрения их идеологического содержания позволяет сделать следующие выводы. Во-первых, многие символы и мотивы школы Куско прямо восходят к индейским верованиям доиспанской эпохи. Во-вторых, многие эти символы и мотивы не являются эксплицитными, а считываются без особых затруднений. В-третьих, испано-христианские элементы носят во многом внешний, декларативный характер с рядом уступок по отношению к языческим мотивам. Все это говорит о том, что мировоззрение индейцев колониального периода было сложным и многогранным по своему составу. При этом важно отметить, что ни одна из мировоззренческих систем не предстает в своем исходном виде, что было вызвано драматическим процессом столкновения двух этих систем и созданием на их базе новой. Тем не менее, исходя из анализа полотен школы Куско, есть основания считать, что в этой мозаичной системе индейского мировоззрения доиспанские элементы могут считаться преобладающими. Все это свидетельствует о подлинном синтезе мировоззрений и о метисном характере самой школы Куско как культурного и социального явления. The article considers the phenomenon of the Cuzco School of painting (one of the most original phenomena of cultural life not only in the Andean region, but also in Latin America in general during the colonial period) as a reflection of the worldview of the Indians of the colonial period. Indians themselves created paintings, although under the control of the Spanish clergy, in order to Christianize the local population, which makes these visual sources important. Despite the significance of the topic and the number of studies devoted to it, many aspects of the problem have not yet been fully interpreted. In many ways, this applies to ideological and worldview aspects. In this regard, the author analyses Cuzco paintings in semiotic, rather than purely artistic, terms: what aspects of the worldview are behind a particular symbol and motif. To solve this problem, the author analyzes a number of paintings of the Cuzco School (the most promising for the research) in order to identify the worldview elements – reflected in the images, motifs, and colors – the paintings contain. It is impossible to conduct such an analysis without using comparative data from other sources on the peculiarities of the Indian worldview, especially written ones. The simultaneous creation of both groups of sources allows drawing relevant parallels with respect to the same research objects. For the convenience and clarity of the analysis, the author typologizes worldview elements based on the principle of origin. Traditionally, they can be divided into Indian, Spanish-Christian, and mixed. The author also gives a brief overview of the main artistic traditions that influenced the formation of the school (Spanish Baroque, Indian beliefs and elements of art, etc.). The analysis of the artistic and stylistic features of the works from the point of view of their ideological content allows drawing the following conclusions. Firstly, many of the symbols and motifs of the Cuzco School go directly back to pre-Hispanic Indian beliefs. Secondly, many of these symbols and motifs are not explicit yet can be read without much effort. Thirdly, the Spanish-Christian elements are largely external, declarative in nature, with a number of concessions to pagan motives. All this suggests that the worldview of the Indians of the colonial period was complex and multi-faceted in its composition. At the same time, it is important to note that none of the worldview systems appears in its original form because of the dramatic process of the collision of these two systems and the creation of a new one on their basis. Nevertheless, based on the analysis of the paintings of the Cuzco School, there is reason to believe that in this mosaic system of the Indian worldview, pre-Hispanic elements can be considered pre-existing. All this testifies to a genuine synthesis of worldviews and to the mestizo character of the Cusco School as a cultural and social phenomenon.

Putting the auto in the auto de fe

Buried in the miscellaneous writings of Capuchin abbess Sor María Ángela Astorch (1592-1665) is a curious spiritual exercise the author calls ‘teatro santo’. In it, Sor María, never herself investigated by the Inquisition, imagines herself as a priest being sentenced to death in an auto de fe. The exercise is practised in total solitude, but also requires props and costume. Sor María inhabits various identities and voices in her account, moving freely between genders and roles, as well as between her embodied identity and her imagined ones. This article argues that the ‘teatro santo’, while singular in its particulars, may give insight into how a female public reacted to the diverse genres of performance that characterize the Spanish Baroque. Sor María’s identification with multiple ‘characters’, and her creative self-insertion into the narrative, shows how early modern women could cultivate creative freedom within, and without disturbing, the most restrictive spaces.

El teatro clásico español en Alemania Cuatro siglos y veinte años de recepción

This article seeks to give a first and comprehensive impression on the different stages of translations from Spanish Baroque theatre into German. While in the 17th and 18th centuries that contact is usually established through Dutch, Italian and French translations, it is at the beginning of the 19th century that key figures of the German Romanticism translate theatrical plays of the Spanish Baroque with a strong focus on formal aspects and philological accuracy. Nevertheless, this article shows that the first contacts between Golden Age theatre and Germany are much older than generally assumed and that the influence of Calderón and Lope on the creation of a German theatre tradition might be much stronger than it is commonly thought. Therefore, this article calls for a more profound study of the circulation of Spanish Golden Age theatre in Europe.