Rewritings, Sequels, and Cycles in Sixteenth-Century Castilian Romances of Chivalry: ‘Aquella inacabable aventura

Runner-up for the 2015 Publication Prize awarded by the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland and the Spanish Embassy

Castilian romances of chivalry were the dominant form of fiction in Europe during the peak of the Spanish Empire in the the sixteenth century. Whilst the material traits of chivalric romances have been thoroughly studied, Don Quijote’s shadow has often resulted in the neglect of the literary aspects and influence of the genre, thus hindering our understanding of Golden Age and Spanish fiction. Conversely, this book examines the literary transformation of the genre throughout the sixteenth century from the perspective of intertextuality. In particular, this book focuses on the literary practices central to the craft and development of the genre: the rewriting of previous romance, the writing of sequels, and the formation of narrative cycles. These three processes defined the poetics of the genre and set the bases and literary techniques for other fictional genres and works, including Don Quijote itself.

Daniel Gutierrez Trapaga is Associate Professor in Research Methodologies (Hispanic Literature) at the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.