Treacherous Foundations: Betrayal and Collective Identity in Early Spanish Epic, Chronicle, and Drama (review)

In recent years, Hispanists have shown interest in tracing the emergence of a Spanish "nation" through constructions of community in literary works of various kinds. A number of scholars (myself included) have examined the role of myth in forming a protonational identity in the early modern period, and in exalting a Spanish state that was to some extent premature compared to other European states, so that it could serve as a harbinger of the full-blown nation-state of the nineteenth century. In Treacherous Foundations, Geraldine Coates turns to the darker side of foundational myths in search of instances of rupture that leave a trace on the national sense of self.

The introduction lays out the rationale for the study. On the grounds that conflict and loss lie at the foundation of all communities, Coates sets for herself the task of writing a diachronic study of treachery in the myths of three heroic figures that she considers foundational to Spanish identity: Bernardo del Carpio, Fernán González, and Sancho II. By focusing on treachery, Coates carries out a reading against the grain, so to speak, of the three myths as they first appear in written form in medieval poetry and chronicles, and as they are later recreated in the works of two Golden Age playwrights, Juan de la Cueva and Lope de Vega. Coates writes of "treachery," rather than betrayal or treason, because it "refers more generally to a violation of faith or trust and thus encompasses the widest possibilities of traición" (23n53). An understanding of what treachery meant in medieval Spain is arrived at by examining the derivation of fidelidad, a synthesis of juridical notions from both Roman and Visigothic legal traditions, then inferring its opposite. Coates examines the discussion of traición in the Siete Partidas of Alfonso X, where treachery is understood as a breaking of bonds between men, a formulation that has important political implications. Already in the Partidas, treachery is associated with dishonor to the patria, and thus to the power of an emerging state. The notion of loyalty to the Castilian land is prominent in the legend of Fernán González, and Coates reminds the reader that this connection becomes even more pronounced in the Habsburg court, where expansion of the Crown's lands beyond the Peninsula coincides with increased centralization at home. This theme is further developed in a discussion of corruption and power plays at court, leading to the monarch's growing caution and distance. Coates examines contemporary debates about kingship and the legitimacy of tyrannicide that are pertinent to her argument. She states that Benedict Anderson's ideas about the role of imagination in constructing collective identity are the "theoretical foundation" of her study, but she does not develop this suggestion further. In fact, theoretical treatments of memory seem more relevant to the study, and Coates is aware of this. She draws on the work of Halbwachs, Stråth, Kaschuba, and Sethi to ground her discussion of legitimizing myths, and on Ricoeur's formulation of violences fondatrices to explore group memory of moments of crisis and lapse that are, in her view, necessary to produce myths of regeneration essential to the establishment of group identity.

Chapter 2, "Trauma and Triumph in the Poema de Gernán González," takes up some of these themes. Coates traces collective identity, in this case that of Castile, to triumph and trauma that coexist in the narrative of the Muslim invasion and concurrent loss of Visigothic Spain. Two concepts of time interconnect in the Poema: the progress of the Reconquista is marked in linear time, while the obstacles correspond to cyclical, repetitive time. This is important because, according to Coates...