Miguel Primo de Rivera

This dictator of Spain from 1923 to 1930 was a count, a marquis and a knight. An interesting Hispanist said he came from “a hard-drinking, whoring, horse-loving aristocracy” that ruled “over the most starved and down-trodden race of agricultural labourers in Europe,” and I got that quotation from Wikipedia. I was reading about Primo de Rivera … More Miguel Primo de Rivera

Vision, race, and the state in modern Latin American literature

For purposes of “touching work” today I am reproducing the kernel of my proto-book proposal. These ideas are to orient the article and proto-chapter I am about to write, “The darker side of mestizaje.” (Yes, I am playing on Mignolo’s classic book title and on the idea of the dark side of the Enlightenment which … More Vision, race, and the state in modern Latin American literature

Thomas Morley

A madrigal from 1594: April is in my mistress’ face, / And July in her eyes hath place. . . . This is a very good ensemble, and you should listen to the recording. Axé.

Clément Janequin

Here is a May song, well sung. Listen to what appear to be period accents. La casa de Bernarda Alba is a May play. Rowdy youth spends the night and part of the day out gathering flowers, and Adela wears a green dress. Maypoles are remnants of ancient tree-worship. What else do we know about … More Clément Janequin