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Literary Criticism Medieval

Manuscript Diversity, Meaning, and Variance in Juan Manuel's El Conde Lucanor

by (author) Laurence N. de Looze

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Aug 2006
Category
Medieval, Spanish & Portuguese
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802090577
    Publish Date
    Oct 2006
    List Price
    $117.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442676985
    Publish Date
    Aug 2006
    List Price
    $118.00

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Description

Juan Manuel’s El Conde Lucanor was arguably one of the great masterworks of early modern Spain. Although the work appears in five very different manuscript versions from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, most modern editions of El Conde Lucanor have neglected to account for the fact that it was part of a manuscript tradition, and that its meaning is substantially affected when its original forms are not taken in to account.

With Manuscript Diversity, Meaning, and Variance in Juan Manuel’s El Conde Lucanor, Laurence de Looze demonstrates how the meaning of Juan Manuel’s work changes depending on how the work is ‘performed’ in particular manuscripts. This study proceeds from the assumption that, in a pre-printing press world, each new copy or ‘performance’ of a work creates new meaning. By adopting this approach and by focusing on Parts II-V of the texts, de Looze argues that El Conde Lucanor raises questions about the interretation, intelligibility, and the production of knowledge. De Looze’s complex and nuanced reading sheds new light on an important work and makes a significant contribution to medieval studies, Spanish studies, and the history of the book.

About the author

Laurence de Looze is a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Western Ontario.

Laurence N. de Looze's profile page