Women Religious and Epistolary Exchange in the Carmelite Reform:
The Disciples of Teresa de Avila WINNER, GEMELA PRIZE FOR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (2022)
ON EARLY MODERN HISPANIC WOMENThe sixteenth century was a period of crisis in the Catholic Church.
Monastic reorganization was a major issue, and women were at the forefront of charting new directions in
convent policy. The story of the Carmelite Reform has been told before, but never from the perspective of the
women on the front lines. Nearly all accounts of the movement focus on Teresa de Avila, (1515-1582), and end with her death in 1582. Women
Religious and Epistolary Exchange in the Carmelite Reform: The Disciples of Teresa de Avila carries the story
beyond Teresa's death, showing how the next generation of Carmelite nuns struggled into the seventeenth
century to continue her mission. It is unique in that it draws primarily from female-authored sources, in
particular, the letters of three of Teresa's most dynamic disciples: María de San José, Ana de Jesús and Ana de
San Bartolomé.
A New Anthology of Early Modern Spanish Theater: Play and Playtext
The first performance-based anthology of early modern Spanish theater ever published,
this new collection incorporates the newest critical trends and offers the reader a wide
selection of both canonical and non-canonical texts.
Shakespeare and the Spanish Comedia
Shakespeare and the Spanish Comedia is a nearly unique transnational study of the
theater / performance traditions of early modern Spain and England. Divided into three parts,
the book focuses first on translating for the stage, examining diverse approaches to the topic.
It asks, for example, whether plays should be translated to sound as if they were originally
written in the target language or if their "foreignness" should be maintained and even
highlighted. Section II deals with interpretation and considers such issues as uses of polyphony, the
relationship between painting and theater, and representations of women. Section III highlights performance
issues such as music in modern performances of classical theater and the construction of stage
character. Written by a highly respected group of British and American scholars and theater
practitioners, this book challenges the traditional divide between the academy and stage
practitioners and between one theatrical culture and another.
Teresa de Avila, Lettered Woman
In 1562, Teresa de Avila founded the Discalced Carmelites and launched a reform movement that would pit her
against the Church hierarchy and the male officials of her own religious order. This new spirituality, which stressed
interiority and a personal relationship with God, was considered dangerous and subversive.
It provoked the suspicion of the Inquisition and the wrath of unreformed Carmelites, especially
the Andalusian friars, who favored the lax practices of their traditional monasteries.
The Inquisition investigated Teresa repeatedly, and the Carmelite General had her detained.
But even during the most terrible periods of persecution, Teresa continued to fight for
the reform using the weapon she wielded best: the pen. Teresa wrote hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of letters to everyone from the King to prelates to mothers of novices. Teresa's
epistolary writing reveals how she used her political acumen to dodge inquisitors and negotiate
the thorny issues of the reform, facing off the authorities--albeit with considerable tact--
and reprimanding priests and nuns who failed to follow her orders. Her letters bring to light
the different strategies she used--code names,secret routing--in order to communicate with
nuns and male allies. They show how she manipulated language, varying her tone and rhetoric
according to the recipient or slipping into deliberate vagueness in order to avoid
divulging secrets. What emerges from her correspondence is a portrait of extraordinary
courage, ability, and shrewdness.
Women Writers of Early Modern Spain
This collection gathers together a wide variety of works by Spanish women writers of the Golden Age. In the 14th,
15th and 16th centuries, the cloister was a refuge for women with intellectual aspirations. A few of these women
produced biographies of founding sisters, histories of their orders and even poetry and theater. Most of these
writings were never published and only now, at the beginning of the 21st century, are researchers beginning to
unearth and transcribe them. Barbara Mujica provides an ample introduction to the volume in English, placing
early modern Spanish women's writing within the broader context of Europe of the time. The remaining text is in
Spanish, and for each of the selections Mujica offers an introduction with biographical and critical information.
Staging and Stage Décor: Early Modern Spanish Theater
https://vernonpress.com/book/1422
This is the first book on staging and stage décor to focus specifically on early modern Spanish theater, from
the 16th to the early 20th centuries. The introduction provides an overview of Spanish theater design from the
16th century, with particular attention to the corral theater and Lope de Vega. The scope of the book is vast.
Some of the articles deal with early modern stagings, while others deal with contemporary productions. The
collection contains articles by an international array of specialists on topics such as scenography and
costuming, lighting, and performance space. It also broaches little-studied areas such as the use of alternative
performance spaces, most notably prisons. The book provides in-depth analyses of particular archetypes - the
melancholiac, the queen, the astrologer - and how they were, and are, staged. The focus on performance and
performance space, costuming, set design, lighting, and audience seating make this a truly unique volume.
This book is designed for students of Spanish literature and theater, researchers interested in theater history
and early modern Spain, as well as theater professionals.
Staging and Stage Décor: Perspectives on European Theater, 1500-1950
https://vernonpress.com/book/1621
'Staging and Stage Décor: Perspectives on European Theater 1500-1950' is a compendium of essays by an
international array of theater specialists. The Introduction provides an overview of theater décor and
architecture from ancient Greece through the Renaissance and beyond, while the articles that follow explore a
variety of topics such as the development of lighting techniques in early modern Italy, the staging of convent
theater in Portugal, performance spaces at Versailles, the reconstruction of the Globe theater, and Shrovetide
plays in Germany. This volume also offers insight into little-studied subjects such as the early productions of
Brecht and the spread of Russian theater to Japan. The focus on performance and performance space across
centuries and continents makes this a truly unique volume.
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