Mockery in Spanish Golden Age Literature: Analysis of Burlesque Representation

Mockery in Spanish Golden Age Literature takes a ground-breaking look at seriousness and comicality by investigating burlesque mockery in a variety of "high" and "low" style genres produced by major writers like Miguel de Cervantes, Luis de G'ongora, Francisco de Quevedo and Salas Barbadillo during the Spanish Baroque. Examination of the foundations of burlesque mockery in sonnets, romances, theatrical interludes and Don Quixote opens ways of solving problems concerning burlesque laughter. This systematic investigation of burlesque mockery in the Spanish Golden Age addresses certain theoretical and historical issues of evaluation by presenting practical expositions of representative examples of the burlesque mode thereby exposing both burlesque mockery and the controversy that surrounds it.

Author Biography: Kimberly Contag is Associate Professor of Spanish at Mankato State University in Minnesota.