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Reviews151 clarified. But these shortcomings are inevitable in an ambitious working in which vast and general ideas are analysed. The organization of Larson's book could, in my opinion be improved; his insertion of the more important generalizations after individual plays tends to confuse the reader. Still, Larson excels in his studies of specific plays, providing original insights and contributions too numerous to point out here. Some typographical errors need correction. Javier Herrero University of Virginia LIHANI, JOHN. Bartolomé de Torres Naharro. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1979. Hardbound. 184 pp. $12.95. With this volume, Professor Lihani adds yet another work to his highly regarded collection of books and articles on the preLopean drama. His preface, a discussion of the «Prohemio», sets the plays in their Renaissance context and introduces the general reader to their significance. Following the Twayne format, Lihani dedicates his first chapter to TN's biography. He stresses the continuum in the development of the early Spanish drama based on the possible personal acquaintances of the Salamancan group for which he adduces an impressive body of circumstantial evidence. Then, after a general discussion of TN's poetry in Chapter II, each of the remaining chapters takes up an individual play. Lihani gives a synopsis and analysis of the plays with additional interpretative sections tailored to the individual works. TN initiated his dramatic career wth the Diálogo del Nascimiento, a ritualistic, semireligious play in the Salamancan tradition. The comedias a noticia~the Soldadesca and the Tinellaria-aie documentary plays of current events that did not require plot development or characterization. Instead, the author, playing the role of his rustic mouthpiece, made an impassioned plea for improved living conditions for the oppressed. In doing so, he invoked the tradition of authorial prerogative and immunity that Encina had established in the Spanish drama. The Comedia Trophea, a pageant celebrating Portuguese victories in Africa, the Indian Ocean and Indonesia, is a loa, a dramatic panegyric and a spectacle (p. 67). Partaking of medieval pageantry and liturgical ritual as well as of Renaissance illusion, it encouraged audience participation on the one hand and aesthetic distance on the other. As a wedding play, the Comedia Jacinta also combined ritual and illusion. Although its ambiguous ending made it adaptable to changing circumstances, Lihani is inclined to believe that the play was composed for Vittoria Colonna's marriage to Fernando de Avalos in 1509 (pp. 83-84). In the Seraphina, TN discovered a technique for recapitulation that reminded the audience of past action and informed them of events not occurr- 152Bulletin ofthe Comediantes ing on the stage. To the remaining comedias a fantasia-the Ymenea, Calamita, Aquilana—he added a more highly structured plot, typed characters, symmetry in the acts, alternation of the comic and the serious, a gracioso-like character, music, poetry, intrigue and the honor theme. The chronological ordering of the plays forces Lihani to reject an organization based on thematic unity that would have lent itself to a less repetitious comparative procedure. The comedias a noticia—the Soldadesca and the Tinellaria—are separated from each other, as are the spectacular Trophea and the transitional Jacinta. Only the last comedias a fantasia—the Ymenea, Calamita and Aquilana—are grouped sequentially in a manner that facilitates a comparative analysis of their dramatic technique and their contributions to the development of the comedia. And they, of course, are separated from the earlier Seraphina. Professor Lihani provides a good description of the author/play/audience relationship, a theme he expands upon in his 1979 BCom article. In Bartolom é de Torres Naharro, he presents TN's social aims and artistic expression and theory in light of the mutual impact of author and audience. The result is a thoughtful and thought-provoking portrait of a man's life, his ideals, his art and his age. Ann E. Wiltrout Mississippi State University GARCIA BERRIO, ANTONIO. Intolerancia del poder y protesta popular en el Siglo de Oro. Los debates sobre la licitud moral del teatro. Málaga: Universidad . Secretariado de Publicación e Intercambio Científico, /1978/. Cloth. 67 pages. This monograph was presented, presumably as a lecture, as a «Lección de Apertura del Curso Académico, 1978...

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