A Companion to the Spanish Picaresque Novel

Written by an international group of scholars, this edited collection provides an overview of the Spanish picaresque from its origins in tales of lowborn adventurers to its importance for the modern novel, along with consideration of the debates that the picaresque has inspired.

Written by an international group of scholars, this edited collection provides an overview of the Spanish picaresque from its origins in tales of lowborn adventurers to its importance for the modern novel, along with consideration of the debates that the picaresque has inspired.

The termpicaresque describes a specific set of early modern Spanish narratives relating the life story of a lowborn adventurer in a realist, ironic, and often humorous manner. The protagonist, thepicaro orpícara (rascal), seeks upward mobility in a resolutely hierarchical society determined to prevent his - or her - ascent, and both are rich targets of satire. Spanishpícaros inspired Anglo-French rogues including Gil Blas and Tom Jones and paved the way for the modern novel.

Written by an international group of scholars, this edited collection provides an overview of the Spanish picaresque novel from its origins to the present day, along with a treatment of the debates that the picaresque has inspired. After introductory chapters on the picaresque genre and the origin of the phenomenon, the book analyses canonical texts and their role in the picaresque spectrum. Further chapters then turn to critical approaches to the genre and manifestations of the picaresque in Hispanic America, France, England, and modern Spain. Overall, the book affords readers a broad sense of the range of this rich tradition and an in-depth view of the field and its major texts.

List of Contributors
Forward

1. The Picaresque as a Genre
Edward H. Friedman

2. On the Picaresque and Its Origins
Anne J. Cruz

3. Francisco DelicadoLa lozana andaluza
Marta Albalá Pelegrín

4.Lazarillo de Tormes
J. A. Garrido Ardila

5. Mateo AlemánGuzmán de Alfarache
Howard Mancing

6. Francisco de QuevedoLa vida del buscón
Edward H. Friedman

7.La pícara Justina
Brian M. Phillips

8. Alonso Jerónimo de Salas BarbadilloLa hija de Celestina
Enrique García Santo-Tomás

9. Miguel de Cervantes and the Picaresque
Vicente Pérez de León

10. Vicente EspinelMarcós de Obregón
John C. Parrack

11. Carlos García, La desordenada codicia de los bienes agenos
Antón García-Fernández

12.Estebanillo González
Faith S. Harden

13. Critical Approaches to the Picaresque
Hilaire Kallendorf

14. The Picaresque in Spanish America
José Luis Gastañaga Ponce de León

15. Continuations: France and England
Richard Squibbs

16. Continuity of the Picaresque: Spain
Andrés Zamora

Bibliography