"Theater reminiscences: the politics of memory after the expulsion of the Moriscos". (original) (raw)
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In mid-2023, Tunisian historian and expert on the history of the Moriscos (Muslims in Spain after the fall of Granada, the last Islamic emirate on the Iberian Peninsula in 1492), Houssem Eddine Chachia, published a new book titled "The Morisco Landscape: Narratives of Expulsion in Modern Spanish Thought" issued by the Center for Research and Knowledge Communication in Riyadh. On April 4, 2024, the book was awarded the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the "Young Author" category. This book serves as a continuation of a project that the author began with his first work, “"Sephardim and Moriscos: The Journey of Expulsion and Installation in the Maghreb (1492-1756): Stories and Itineraries”. The project does not aim to chronicle the main event in the history of the Moriscos and modern Spain, namely the decision to expel the Moriscos between 1609-1614, in terms of its events and circumstances. Rather, it seeks to document the narratives that accompanied this event and how they were narrated by each of the parties involved, according to their backgrounds and objectives, using the achievements of modern social science methodologies such as structuralism and hermeneutics.
The Mediterranean Seminary Review, 2021
For some scholars, the theme of Visions of Deliverance might appear at first glance well-known, while others might almost discard it as merely epiphenomenal-for being popular "superstitions" or because of the limited source base. However, both opinions would be misled in this updated focus on the prophetic dimension articulated by the crypto-Muslim populations of the sixteenthcentury Iberian Peninsula. In its analysis of "the efflorescence of apocalyptic beliefs and practices among Moriscos", Green-Mercado's work offers an in-depth exploration of "the conditions and processes of the production, reception, and transmission" of the apocalyptic prophecies, as well as "their social and political effects" (2-3): not only does it widen the scope by taking into account spaces abroad, but its main approach considers and investigates the role of prophetic writings socially, culturally, and politically. In doing so, Green-Mercado studies prophecy as a meaningful discourse for their producers, users, and audience. She highlights the catalyst such discourse catalyst such discourse was in the configuring and positioning of a Morisco group and its action; hence, the role the prophecies played in both individual and communal agencies. The discursive and the agency approaches accurately contest the notion of a static and passive Morisco identity by describing the processes involved in or involving the apocalyptic prophecies. If the main textual corpus consists of less than a dozen prophecies, the author's constant contextual analysis against other historical sources results in a thorough examination of the texts in their contexts (6-7). The main hypothesis, convincingly demonstrated, is that, through the use of prophetic discourse, some Moriscos internally managed to mobilize their crypto-Muslim brethren in an enterprise of Islamic reaffirmation and externally established diplomatic relations in order to play an active role on the geopolitical stage of the sixteenth-century Mediterranean. The six chapters are all different aspects of Morisco prophetic discourse, meticulously assembled, explored, and interconnected. The first chapter (19-63) relates the case of Agustín, a young Castilian new-Christian seer, his entourage, and his progressive islamization. The itinerary from "a domestic visionary experience" into "a local cult in which [the youth] was venerated as a Muslim saint" (49) immerses the reader into the Castilian new-Christians' spiritual atmosphere and demonstrates the responsiveness of prophecies to their environment. Agustín's visionary message of an Islamic regeneration reflected its socio-political circumstances: "the Ottomans would defeat the Christians, Islam would spread throughout the world, justice would be restored," and "the
Staging the Crusade against Islam: the Twelve Peers of France and European Popular Theatricality
European Medieval Drama, 23 : 31-70, 2019
This essay deals with the performances of the staged combat against Islam, its Iberian origins and medieval records, its spread around the world (America, Africa, Asia) and the distinctive manifestations of its present-day survival, particularly in Mexico and Ilha do Príncipe. My analysis focuses on the salient spectacular aspects of two traditional festivals: Los doce pares de Francia, which I witnessed in 2013 in Tlalnepantla (Morelos, Mexico), and the Auto Floripes de Santo António (São Tomé and Príncipe), which Alexandra Gouvêa Dumas studied in 2009. I explore the genetic link between the aspects in question and the type of drama that originated and flourished in the Iberian Peninsula in the late Middle Ages. My discussion evolves into a two-pronged argumentation: stage direction and acting, costumes and props. It delves into the issues that have to do with authorship, text, audience, and social context. I intend to identify in the two festivals in question the significant common theatrical features that characterize popular dramaturgy and stagecraft.
Global Posts The Interwoven History of Moroccan Theatre
The interwoven history of Moroccan theatre is difficult to trace. Yet, thanks to endeavors undertaken by Moroccan as well as Western scholars interested in theatre and performance arts, mainly in the history of the field, it has become, at least since independence, achievable. Therefore, a number of studies could arise out of that history and pertinent issues interconnected to that theatre could be examined. The most recent and most complete of these was the 2012 The Theatres of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia: Performance Traditions of the Maghreb by Marvin Carlson and Khalid Amine. Thanks to such work, the evolutionary history of the Moroccan theatre can now be accessed and approached from various perspectives. This study considers Moroccan theatre history from the premise of an " interweaving performance culture, " as developed by a center by the same name at the Freie Universität of Berlin and sets as its main objective the tasks of investigating that history, looking for and highlighting the factors that historically contributed to the making of modern Moroccan theatre and producing an interwoven theatrical culture and performance aesthetics. The main intention is to sketch out the major interwoven constituents that contributed to establishing Moroccan current theatre as a modern established institution and to unravel the culturally multi-layered system performance arts in Morocco.
2014
In writing this dissertation, I have been continuously aware of the many people to whom I am indebted. Special thanks to my advisor Nancy Berg, scholar in Modern Hebrew and Arabic Literatures, who believed in this project from its early stages and who not only accredited intellectual importance to my work, but also provided me with critical and insightful comments every time she reviewed my progress. Without her unflagging support, I would not have been able to finish. From Dr. Berg, I learned how to apply the core principles of research to writing. I would also like to thank Professors Lynne Tatlock and Robert Hegel for improving my dissertation as well as supporting me throughout my graduate studies in Comparative Literature. My thanks to Professor Robert Henke. His help, especially during the early stages of developing this thesis, was invaluable-as were his witty remarks! I am indebted to Professor Pascal Ifri not only for his indispensible input on this project, but also for the opportunity he provided me to be educated in French studies. I was fortunate to receive feedback on my early proposal from prominent scholars in the field of Middle Eastern Studies, Theater Studies, Francophone Studies,
Theatre in Spain, 1490-1700, by Melveena McKendrick, Symposium 45.2 (1991): 157-59.
Reviews SYMPOSIUM •·.157 espeeialmente en elcaso de .Lorea. . Soufas ofrece sin embargo un modo valiosode acerearse a estes autores como verdaderosprofesionales •del 'arte, y como tal, implicados en su quehacer en su totaIidadexistencial, entendida esta como.actitud•personal, .social.ypolitica. It.veces .las leeturas resultan un tanto repetitlvasypredeclbles, .y que elpoema concreto tiende a perdersu singularidadalamoldarse.al paradigma entice .adoptado. Nopor ellopierde valerelacercamieatoqueen sumayoria producesutileslecturas, asien elcasode tostresultimosautores. Yaseaproducto de una voluntad Intelectual, ya de unas vocesInterioresimpesibles de discemir totalmente, estos antares sobresalen por su afande crear un arte superior que, comoaficazmente presenta Soufas, seemplazadentro del marco delmodernismo, mas alla de los limitadores parametres de generacion.