The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes: A Critical Edition, Including the Original Spanish Text [Paperback]

Alfonso J. García Osuna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2005 | ISBN-10: 0786421347 | ISBN-13: 978-0786421343

The beginning of the golden age of Spanish literature and the particular socio-political circumstances of early 16th century Spain made fertile ground for the emergence of the picaresque novel, an early form of the first-person narrative novel relating the adventures of a rogue or lowborn traveler (Spanish pícaro) as he drifts through the Spanish countryside from one social milieu to another in an effort to survive. Influenced largely by the medieval tradition of the fabliaux and by the early Italian Renaissance, and structured upon a foundation of anecdotes, proverbs, popular beliefs, and folk tales, the pícaro's discourse becomes a satirical survey of the hypocrisies and corruptions of society. The picaresque novel is exemplified by the prototypical and anonymously written Lazarillo de Tormes, published in 1554, in which the poor boy Lázaro describes his services under seven successive lay and clerical masters, each of whom hides a dubious character beneath a mask of hypocrisy. So piercing are its deliberate social criticisms, irreverent wit, anticlerical attitude and string of mischievous misadventures that Lazarillo was an entry in the 1559 Index of Prohibited Books. For the modern reader, the choice of characters and the backdrop for Lazarillo de Tormes reveal the heart of Spain’s national dilemma after the crucial events of the 1520s. This dual-language, annotated critical edition of Lazarillo de Tormes presents the complete text of the novel in both English and Spanish. The translation attempts to capture in modern English not only the meaning of the historical text, but also the qualities of its original style.

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About the Author

Alfonso J. García Osuna is the chair of the Department of Foreign Languages at Kingsborough, a College of the City University of New York. He is also the author of The Cuban Filmography: 1897 through 2001 (2003).

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786421347
• ISBN-13: 978-0786421343
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,295,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)