Laura Martínez-García - Böcker

Taking as its common thread the overtly theatrical nature of early modern society and its cultural and political manifestations this book studies dramatic texts, dedications, autobiographies, adaptations and performative practices, to prove that the boundaries between on and off stage performances of gender are blurred. Thus, the limits that separate theatre and life are highly permeable and the relations between both are bidirectional: the performativity of gender and identity is an idea that the theatre takes from and transfers to society. This concept is applied to a wide timeframe creating a dialogue between different historical times and cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, the authors explore sexualities as written and performed by both men and women, offering a wider scope to determine whether and to what extent normative gender roles are being questioned, contested or reinforced.

This book explores the connections that José Joaquín de Mora (1783–1864)established with Britain, where he was exiled from 1823 to 1826 and was toreturn as diplomat in the following decades. His admiration for the Britishmaterialised in a series of cultural transfers aimed at the promotion and diffusionof British culture in Spain and Spanish America. He contributed to thepopularization of Bentham’s utilitarianism, the principles of British classicaleconomy, and the philosophy of the Scottish School of Common Sense; hetranslated texts by Scott and Shakespeare and wrote an unfinished versionof Byron’s Don Juan; and, above all, he presented Britain as a model for thepolitical, economic, and literary regeneration of the Hispanic world.