In this series of four lectures, we will delve into the literary world of the Spanish Golden Age, understood as a transatlantic phenomenon.

We will start with Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, an icon of the Spanish-American Baroque and a key figure in colonial Latin American literature, who left behind a significant legacy not only in her books but also in the arts. Subsequently, we will explore the life of Erauso, also known as the Lieutenant Nun, whose autobiographical account challenges gender conventions and portrays a life marked by adventure and transgression. Maria de Zayas, a novelist and playwright, will guide us through a world of (proto)feminist fictions that subvert the literary standards of her time. We will conclude with Santa Teresa, whose personal experiences and mystical writings will transport us to a realm between the earthly and the spiritual. These four lectures will allow an analysis of the diversity of female voices and perspectives from a period marked by rebelliousness and creativity.

Unlike Sor Juana, who was forgotten for centuries, St. Teresa (1515-1582) has been continuously studied since her death. Like Sor Juana, who cites her as a model, Teresa was basically self-taught. Both shone so brightly that their successive confessors could not overshadow them. Thus, they learned from no other teachers than the books themselves. However, Sor Juana leaned towards secular knowledge, while Teresa focused on theology. This fourth and final lecture will analyse the first chapters of the Libro de la vida [Book of Her Life] (1564-1565), where Teresa describes her childhood and youth. We will also examine her mystical ecstasies, one of the most difficult human experiences to describe, portrayed in full spiritual maturity, emphasising the opposition between suffering and pleasure, loss and gain, body and soul.

Luis Castellví Laukamp is a Lecturer in Spanish Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester. His teaching and research interests range widely but mainly focus on the literatures and cultures of early modern Spain, Latin America and the Philippines. Central to his academic work are the theories and practices of poetic influence and transmission of culture in the early modern Hispanic world. He previously taught as an Affiliated Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, where he earned his PhD, and was a Humboldt postdoctoral scholar at Heidelberg University. Author of Hispanic Baroque Ekphrasis (2020), which has been translated into Spanish. Anchored in the emerging field of Pacific Rim Studies, his current research is devoted to the first Spanish chronicles written in Asia.