Inscribed Power: Amulets and Magic in Early Spanish Literature

Ryan  D. Giles

Published by University of Toronto Press 2017

Inscribed Power

Amulets and Magic in Early Spanish Literature

Ryan D. Giles

In the series Toronto Iberic

https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442664364

Overview
Contents

About this book

In Inscribed Power, Ryan D. Giles explores the function of amuletic prayers, divine names, and incantation formulas that were inscribed and printed on parchment, paper and other media, and at the same time inserted into classic literary works in Spain.

Author / Editor information

Giles Ryan D. :

Ryan D. Giles is an associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Reviews

Don C. Skemer, Princeton University:

"Inscribed Power [is] a valuable contribution both to the study of Spanish literature and to our knowledge of magic in the Iberian Peninsula."

Joseph T. Snow, Michigan State University:

"[Inscribed Power] is, in fine, a work of vast scope and of dense but well-informed and authoritative presentations of the several ramifications of its titular theme. It contributes significantly new readings of the medieval and early modern Spanish works discussed and breaks fresh scholarly ground in doing so."

E. Michael Gerli, Commonwealth Professor of Spanish, University of Virginia:

"Inscribed Power constitutes a major scholarly contribution to the study of the esoteric textual universe to which the pre-modern word belonged. Giles’s book discovers a numinous world in which inanimate objects are imbued with magic, in which words and texts are fortified by metaphysical powers, and where a word or a name alone may be placed at the service of either good or evil. This is a key study for understanding the history of knowledge and the epistemologies and associative beliefs that shaped medieval and early modern textualities. Scholars can miss it only at their peril."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List of Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction: Literary Amulets Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Amuletic Manuscripts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
2. Naming God Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
3. Amuletic Voices Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
4. The Bawd’s Amulet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
5. Outlaw Prayers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
Postscript: Amuletic Afterlives Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281

Language: English
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Audience: College/higher education;Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 328

eBook

Published: September 6, 2017
ISBN: 9781442664364