'DON CRISTALIAN DE ESPANA', DE BEATRIZ BERNAL: EDICION MODERNIZADA CON INTRODUCCION CRITICA. (SPANISH TEXT)

The present modern edition, with critical introduction, of Beatriz Bernal's romance of chivalry Don Cristalian de Espana (1st. edition, Valladolid, 1545; 2nd. edition, Alcala, 1587) aspires to accomplish three essential aims. First, the new edition makes accessible to scholars what is almost certainly the first chivalresque romance written by a woman. Second, it rescues from the obscurity of the rare books sections of the large libraries another work of a genre which has become largely inaccessible. And third, the critical introduction attempts to do justice to a genre which has suffered enormously from the application of deficient or erroneous critical criteria.;The critical introduction consists of six parts: (1) A brief summary of chivalresque literature in Spain prior to Don Cristalian. (2) An examination of the literary framework of the genre. (3) An analysis of the narrative structure of the work. (4) An analysis of the archetypal structure of the work. (5) Conclusion. (6) Appendix, containing the little information available on the author, and the different texts.;The chivalresque genre has long required a critical approach in harmony with the artistic and conceptual framework chosen by author. The present study demonstrates how Don Cristalian, despite its laberinthine form, is organised around a narrative structure which expresses in a remarkable way the essential arquetypes of the genre, whose characteristic symbol is the Quest. Beatriz Bernal has achieved a complex cyclical and dialectical structure, notwithstanding the great length of the work (640 pages in the original), in which all the parts, from language to characterization, are in consonance with the essential concept of the whole.;The present edition shows that the romance of chivalry is not an obsolete form, and yields great rewards to a valid critical approach. The archetypal study shows that the genre is not only significant, but also central to the western literary tradition, expressing in the clearest terms the basic fears and aspirations of mankind. The work of Beatriz Bernal is a classic manifestation of the genre, and this new edition gives scholars a new opportunity to revaluate the literature of chivalry in the terms which it requires.;This edition follows the conventional practice established for the modernization of old Spanish texts. It is not a strictly paleographical edition, and thus modernizes spelling and punctuation, while respecting the original syntax and lexicon. This edition is based upon the reprint of 1587, which is to be found in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid.