Between Picaresque and Historical Novel: Questions of Identity, Social Criticism and Persecution in 1492: Vida y tiempos de Juan Cabezón de Castilla by Homero Aridjis

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This article analyses Mexican poet Homero Aridjis’ 1985 novel 1492: Vida y tiempos de Juan Cabezón de Castilla, set in Spain between 1391 and 1492 during a time of increased persecution and the subsequent expulsion of the Sephardic Jews, narrated by the converso Juan Cabezón. It examines questions of identity, Otherness and social criticism through the lens of the ‘poética comprometida de la picaresca’ and highlights the continued contemporary significance of these topics in the twenty-first century.