Entre la vigilia y el sueño: soñar en el Siglo de Oro by María V. Jordán Arroyo

Abstract

Reviewed by: Entre la vigilia y el sueño: soñar en el Siglo de Oro by María V. Jordán Arroyo Veronica Menaldi Jordán Arroyo, María V. Entre la vigilia y el sueño: soñar en el Siglo de Oro. Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2017. 326 pp. Entre la vigilia y el sueño draws on multiple Early Modern sources circulated among all three Abrahamic religions of the Iberian Peninsula, albeit with an emphasis on Christian material, establishing a dialogue between cultural understandings of dreams, preserved documentation of dreamworlds, and their fictional uses. The sources referenced in this work include inquisitorial records from both the Peninsula and the New World, chronicles, surviving medicinal, theological, and oneirocritic compendia, and literary representations in both novels and plays. María Jordán Arroyo sheds light on the fleeting and fragmented nature of dreams and consequential prophetic revelations, advancing contemporary understandings of the Early Modern Iberian psyche in an interdisciplinary manner. The book has six chapters, an introduction, conclusion, and bibliographical references of archives, manuscripts, and sources. As opposed to organizing the core chapters chronologically, Jordán Arroyo grouped each into three thematically divided sections: theory (chapters one and two), practice (chapters three and four), and literary (chapters five and six). Each chapter addresses the complex contradictions regarding the promotion and prohibition of dream analysis, prophecies, and documentation. When necessary, all primary source titles and materials (in Arabic, Catalan, English, French, Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Latin, and Spanish) are given in Spanish translation preserving a universal use of Spanish throughout, except for a few terms in their italics original followed by an explanation. Throughout the book, Jordán Arroyo shows awareness of the inherent limitations of her study. She states that her examples are meant to demonstrate a wide panorama to portray an inclusive nuanced look at past dreamers, healers, visionaries, and interpreters despite gaps in time due to censorship. In the first chapter, "Entre lo divino y lo humano," Jordán Arroyo addresses the belief in the prophetic power of dreams in the Early Modern period in Spain, and more widely within Europe, from a theological, supernatural, and scientific point of view. In establishing these distinctions, Jordán Arroyo treads both sides of the murky line between dreams or imagination, and foretelling or reality through nuanced interpretations of preserved angelic/demonic messages, magical intervention, and physical changes that both affect and are affected by dreams. These examples are drawn from Iberian and European authors, both Early Modern and Medieval, like bishop Lope de Barrientos, theologian Pedro Sánchez Ciruelo, Council [End Page 793] of Trent member Francisco Monzón, surgeon Bernardino Montaña de Monserrate, doctor Arnau de Vilanova and many more. Briefly, near the end of this chapter, the author also brings Sephardi and Islamicate voices into the conversation like Maimonides, Abū Bakr al-Rāzī, and Gaspar Cajal—a Morisco medic and fortune-teller accused of making a demonic pact. The second chapter, "El arte de interpretar los sueños," mostly focuses the discussion and analysis on a previously-unknown dream interpretation manual initially written in Spanish from Salamanca containing influences from earlier Iberian Islamic material. Scholars do not know much about the circulation of this manuscript, however, the first few folios contain an annotation that places this text among those censured and prohibited by the Inquisition. After further contextualization of the contents with Andalusi and Islamic thought, particularly the role of dreams in the Hadith, Jordán Arroyo walks the reader through the manuscript starting with its prologue, overall content, and conclusion. In doing this, she outlines the complicated trajectory of reading, translation, and adaptation of restricted material in Iberia. This shows the overall persistence for survival among the public interest despite attempted censorship, prohibition, and control by both the Spanish monarchy and Christian doctrine. In her third and fourth chapters, "Entre la historia y los sueños" and "Sueños españoles de realidades americanas," Jordán Arroyo dives into the Inquisitorial archives describing and analyzing the specifics of the revelations and accusations of a late sixteenth-century woman from Madrid, Lucrecia de León, and a late seventeenth-century Mexican indigenous man, Diego Martínez de...