Verbalizing the Visual: María de Zayas, Mariana de Carvajal, and the Frame-Narrative Device

This article analyzes visual effects in prose works by two seventeenth-century Spanish authors, Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor and Mariana de Carvajal y Saavedra. Zayas became renowned in her lifetime, and she continues to attract attention for her two prose works, Novelas amorosas y ejemplares ("A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for early modern cultural studies 2012-06, Vol.12 (3), p.117-142
Main Author: O'BRIEN, EAVAN
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
17th century
Attention
Conspicuous consumption
Cultural studies
de Zayas y Sotomayor, Maria
Entertainment
ESSAYS
Frame narratives
Historical text analysis
Language history
Narratives
Nobility
Novella
Novels
Prose
Protagonists
Reading
Social criticism & satire
Spanish
Story telling
Storytelling
Symbolism
Verbalization
Women
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Summary:This article analyzes visual effects in prose works by two seventeenth-century Spanish authors, Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor and Mariana de Carvajal y Saavedra. Zayas became renowned in her lifetime, and she continues to attract attention for her two prose works, Novelas amorosas y ejemplares ("Amorous and Exemplary Novellas") and Desengaños amorosos ("Disenchantments of Love"), which were first published in 1637 and 1647, respectively. In contrast, Carvajal's Navidades de Madrid ("Christmas in Madrid" [1663]) has been relatively overlooked and is only now receiving due attention and reassessment by scholars. Structurally, both authors adhered to the long-established model of frame narrative and enclosed novellas. This article demonstrates that Zayas's and Carvajal's texts can be fruitfully compared due to the shared features of their frame narratives. In these narratives, the verbal and the visual are effectively intertwined, resulting in the vivid portrayal of an intimate domestic sphere that is set within a privileged urban milieu. This study examines visual details in Zayas's and Carvajal's house-bound frame narratives, making special reference to the symbolism of clothing, decor, and food within confined storytelling environments. Furthermore, this article considers, inscribed within these visually oriented narratives, social commentary relating to the changing situation of the urban nobility. Thus, as the article reveals, the reader of these texts is simultaneously exposed to selected luxuries of affluent seventeenth-century Spanish life and to the societal ramifications thereof.
ISSN:1531-0485
1553-3786
1553-3786
DOI:10.1353/jem.2012.0025