Malcontentos de la república. La renuncia a la utopía en el Diálogo de Scipión y Sócrates

Abstract

One of the most enigmatic works of Spanish literature is a short, anonymous and untitled dialogue that could be dated to the mid-16th century. Two interlocutors, Scipio Africanus and Socrates, speak in it and decide to found not a perfect republic, but rather a modest village or aldea. Insofar as it deals with the construction of a fictitious, alternative and virtuous society, this Dialogue of Scipio and Socrates could be considered to be part of the utopian literature of the 16th century. In these pages I will consider the Dialogue’s references to ancient utopia, examine the founding of the philosophical village, and trace its literary and intellectual genealogy. I will read the Dialogue based on Alfonso de Palencia’s translation of Donato Acciaiuoli’s Vita Scipionis and, finally, in the light of this analysis, I will rethink the critical relationship of Scipio’s village to the founding conventions of early modern utopias.