Elizabeth Martynova
DARE Project: Shakespeare and Diasporic Book History in Spain and Portugal, 1592-1820
Program(s) of Study: English and Professional Writing
Project Supervisor: Dr. Deanne Williams
During this DARE experience I learned both information about the places and books I was researching, and developed my research and writing skills. Since this is a project that explores books read in Spain and Portugal, I learned a lot about Spanish and Portuguese culture and history. I specifically became familiar with the Spanish match, the wars Spain and Portugal were a part of, and their relationships with other countries. I also learned about the books and authors themselves, exploring the libraries that these books were a part of, what these books were about, the lives of the authors, and public reception of both. Finally, I learned about women's roles in how books were discussed, and how they moved around Spain, exploring "tetulias" or gatherings that women such as the Duchess of Osuna held where women were able to discuss their intellectual pursuits.
Apart from all the new knowledge I acquired, I also learned more about research and writing for a database. This project helped me learn how to parse through large chunks of information and determine what is important, how to accurately summarize material, and how to edit my language so that it is clearer and more accessible for short descriptions on the website.
Project Description:
Histories of reading Shakespeare in Spain have, until recently, started with early nineteenth-century Spanish translations, overlooking the engagements with Shakespeare among readers of English in the early modern period and Eighteenth Century. Shakespeare and Diasporic Book History in Spain and Portugal, 1592-1820 explores this much earlier history of reading Shakespeare in Spain. One of the aims of the project was to create a database of pre-1820 editions of Shakespeare, as well as English drama and criticism in Spanish libraries and archives: mapping out this early readership, and including details on the physical attributes of the books (inscriptions, illustrations, binding) as well as their provenance and current location. I spent a significant part of this project working on this database. My team provided me with a list of over 500 plays and authors, and my role was to go through that list and locate bibliographic information, write short descriptions of the plays, research whether the plays had any Spanish and Portuguese connections, and describe the Spanish and Portuguese connections if applicable. This information ultimately led to the creation of our Shakespeare in Spain database. After acquiring all of this information, I began working on my poster project, exploring further the collection of books in one library, that of the Duchess of Osuna. With this research I hope to illustrate how visual mapping can give us more insight into reading and library production in seventeenth and eighteenth-century Spain, while simultaneously exploring women’s roles in the cultural formation of old-regime Spain.The Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) - Undergraduate enables our students to meaningfully engage in research projects supervised by LA&PS faculty members. Find out more about DARE.