The challenges of uncertainty : an introduction to seventeenth-century Spanish literature /

A penetrating introduction to 17th-century Spanish literature, this book complements Graham Darby's work on politics (Spain in the Seventeenth Century, 1994). Taking as his starting point the idea of uncertainty, Robbins (Univ. of Edinburg) examines how major cultural figures of the Baroque in Spain--Cervantes, Gongora, Gracian, Caleroa, Velazquez, et al.--address the problems arising from the breakdown of traditional forms of authority and certainty (the result of such things as the struggle between Protestantism and Catholicism, the discovery of the Americas, the challenge of scepticism). After a good chapter outlining the political, intellectual, and social background, Robbins focuses his arguments on appearance and reality, and the role played by the senses and the intellect in trying to determine the nature and limitations of knowledge of the world. The result is life experienced as challenge, oscillating between ser and parecer, desengano and engano, fact and fiction, etc. Although brief, the book ranges widely, incorporating philosophy, religion, poetry, novel, drama, art, sculpture, the art of governing, and more. This well-written volume is an excellent introduction to the period, although some comments on abitristas and the possible role of converso writers would not have been amiss. All academic collections. J. G. Hughes; University of Toronto