Additional information
by Jason McCloskey (Editor), Ignacio López Alemany (Editor)
Signs of Power in Habsburg Spain and the New World explores the representation of political, economic, military, religious, and juridical power in texts and artifacts from early modern Spain and her American viceroyalties. In addition to analyzing the dynamics of power in written texts, chapters also examine pieces of material culture including coats of arms, coins, paintings and engravings. As the essays demonstrate, many of these objects work to transform the amorphous concept of power into a material reality with considerable symbolic dimensions subject to, and dependent on, interpretation. With its broad approach to the discourses of power, Signs of Power brings together studies of both canonical literary works as well as more obscure texts and objects. The position of the works studied with respect to the official center of power also varies. Whereas certain essays focus on the ways in which portrayals of power champion the aspirations of the Spanish Crown, other essays attend to voices of dissent that effectively call into question that authority.
Author Biography
Jason McCloskey is assistant professor of Spanish at Bucknell University. His research focuses on Renaissance artwork, classical mythology and the portrayal of exploration and piracy in early modern Hispanic poetry.
Ignacio López Alemany is assistant professor of Spanish at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and editor of Calíope, Journal of the Society for the Renaissance and Baroque Hispanic Poetry.
