The Epic of Juan Latino: Dilemmas of Race and Religion in Renaissance Spain

by Elizabeth Wright

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Published: July 2016

Product Details

Imprint: University of Toronto Press

Series: Series: Toronto Iberic

Page Count: 288 Pages

Illustrations: 3 maps

Dimensions: 6.27 x 9.28

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288 Pages, 6.27 x 9.28 x 0.95 in, 3 maps

Hardcover

$78.00

ISBN: 9781442637528

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In The Epic of Juan Latino, Elizabeth R. Wright tells the story of Renaissance Europe’s first black poet and his epic poem on the naval battle of Lepanto, Austrias Carmen (The Song of John of Austria).

Piecing together the surviving evidence, Wright traces Latino’s life in Granada, Iberia’s last Muslim metropolis, from his early clandestine education as a slave in a noble household to his distinguished career as a schoolmaster at the University of Granada. When intensifying racial discrimination and the chaos of the Morisco Revolt threatened Latino’s hard-won status, he set out to secure his position by publishing an epic poem in Latin verse, the Austrias Carmen, that would demonstrate his mastery of Europe’s international literary language and celebrate his own African heritage.

Through Latino’s remarkable, hitherto untold story, Wright illuminates the racial and religious tensions of sixteenth-century Spain and the position of black Africans within Spain’s nascent empire and within the emerging African diaspora.

Elizabeth R. Wright is a professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Georgia.

Introduction: A Lost Portrait and a Forgotten Name

Part I: From Slave to Freedman in Granada

Chapter 1: Latin Lessons Amid the Remnants of Al-Andalus

Chapter 2: Civil War, Shattered Convivencia

Part II: The Epic of Lepanto

Chapter 3: A Black Poet and a Habsburg Phoenix

Chapter 4: Christians and Muslims on the Battle Lines

Chapter 5: The Costs of Modern Warfare

Conclusion: Song of the Black Swan

Epilogue: Juan Latino in the Harlem Renaissance

Appendix 1: Elegy for Philip II, Annotated Translation

Appendix 2: Chronology

"Wright has produced an admirable and highly recommended study."
William D. Phillips, Jr., University of Minnesota, University of Toronto Quarterly, vol 87 3, Summer 2018

“The Epic of Juan Latino is a truly remarkable achievement. Much more than a biography of a former black slave, it is literary history of the best kind. Seldom does one see such a vast geographical, historical, and literary scope covered in a book on a Renaissance subject. Not only is the scholarship outstanding but the author is able to create a learned text that is highly engaging and readable.”
María Antonia Garcés, Department of Romance Studies, Cornell University

“In The Epic of Juan Latino, Elizabeth R. Wright digs deep to uncover Latino’s document trail. Wright’s ability to bring together literary and historical studies as well as her lucid writing style has resulted in a beautifully written and refreshing book.”
Katie Harris, Department of History, University of California-Davis

Hispanic Studies / Hispanic Literature

Renaissance Studies / Renaissance History

Literary Studies / Hispanic Literature

Hispanic Studies / Hispanic History