CONVIVENCIA: RASGOS LITERARIOS Y CULTURALES

Abstract

This dissertation studies the influence of the cultural exchange and the representation of the “other” among Christians, Muslims, and Jews in important texts from the Hispanic Middle Ages. Among the works examined are: the Cantar del Mío Cid, the Cantigas de Santa María and the Cantigas profanas of Alfonso the Wise, some exegetical texts such as the Dialogus contra iudaeos of Pedro Alfonso, the Vikuhah of Nahmánides, the Disputa entre un cristiano y un judío of unknown authorship, the Llibre del gentile e dels tres savis by Raimond Llull, and the anonymous Coloquio entre un cristiano y un judío. Additionally, I examine the poetic forms of Arab-Andalusian origin such as the Zejel and the Muwasaha and some Sephardic texts of the XVI and XVII centuries such as La vara de Judah, written by Salomon Ibn Verga, the Diálogo del Colorado of Daniel de Ávila Gallego and some poetic examples from oral and written Sephardic tradition. Most of the studies of cultural exchange in medieval Spanish literature have been devoted to some particular text; for the most part, only the influence of Muslim or Jewish culture on Christian culture has been taken into consideration. For the most part, cultural exchange as a whole has not been evaluated. Few studies have examined the earliest examples of Hispano- Arabic literature, such as zejeles, muwashas and jarchas, and their impact on medieval Spanish culture in general. Even fewer scholars have examined the literary and cultural elements that Jews and Muslims took with them after their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula. In other words, very few studies exist in which so many texts have been evaluated together in order to observe this literary and cultural exchange, as well as the representation of the "other" in the Spain of the three religions. In addition, contemporary theories about cultural exchange between members of different societies have rarely been taken into consideration. In this dissertation all of these elements will be examined in order to provide a clearer idea of the mark that the interaction between Christians, Jews and Muslims left on Hispanic literature and culture in general. In the first chapter, I review the theory of convivencia and the historic background of Al- Andalus from when the Muslims arrived in 711 AC until the fall of the Kingdom of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. I also study the case of the Martyrs of Cordoba through the Memoriale Sanctorum of Eulogius of Córdoba and the Indiculus Luminosus of Paul Alvar of Cordoba, both authors who witnessed the episode and wrote about it firsthand. In the second chapter, I examine the Zejel, the Muwasaha, and the Jarcha, three Arab- Andalusian forms of poetry created between the 9th and the 10th century. I also study their influence on the Galician-Portuguese cantigas and the presence of the Zejel in important literary works, such as the Cancionero de Baena from the beginning of 15th century, the Cancionero musical de los siglos 15th y 16th, and the dramatic works of Gil Vicente. In the third chapter, I analyze the influence of Muslim and Jewish translations on the prose works of Alfonso “the Wise.” In addition, I evaluate the adoption and evolution of the Castilian language as the official language of the kingdom, and the influence of Arabic on Castilian. I also study the use of the Zejel in Alfonso’s Cantigas de Santa María and Cantigas profanas and the depiction of Muslims and Jews in both poetic works. In the fourth chapter, I examine the Arab influence on the Poema de Mio Cid. In particular, I focus on the probable influence of the Arabic epic, the supposed Arab authorship of the poem, and the representation of Muslims in the poem. I also review the supposed antisemitism in the episode of Rachel and Vidas. In the fifth chapter, I discuss the most well-known religious disputation texts such as Dialogus contra iudaeos written by Petrus Alfonso, the Kuzari by Yehudá Ha-Leví, the anonymous Disputa entre un cristiano y un judío, the Llibre del gentil e dels tres savis by Raymond Llull, and the Coloquio entre un cristiano y un judío by an unknown author. I also study the accounts of the public disputations of Barcelona and Tortosa. In the sixth chapter, I observe the footprints of the cultural exchange taken outside the Iberian Peninsula. This footprint includes the Judeo-Spanish language carried by the Sephardic Jews in their diaspora. It also includes poetic forms in both written and oral, popular traditions. Additionally, I take into account some examples of Sephardic prose, such as the Diálogo del Colorado by Daniel de Ávila Gallego and La vara de Judah, written by Salomón Ibn Verga. Most of the texts studied demonstrate a deep literary and cultural exchange among Christians, Jews, and Muslims.