Type and Concept in Lazarillo de Tormes: Self-Knowledge and the Spanish Picaresque Narrative

Abstract

Despite the disputes and controversies that seem to prevail in the criticism devoted to the Spanish picaresque literature, one can at least identify a contention that — to all appearances — is subscribed to by all. I have in mind, of course, the thesis that the genre in question begins to take shape with Lazarillo and is finally established with Guzman de Alfarache, possibly the highest accomplishment in picaresque fiction.1 Even if one were to accept this notion, it would still be true that a basic assumption would have to be admitted along with it, namely, the view that the picaresque narrative is essentially autobiographical. Now, this presupposition is, at best, only suspected, and it is thus never provided with any justification. This may very well be due to the fact that such a foundation would prove elusive to anyone who adopts a sheer historical approach, whether the critic in question stresses the content2 or the form of the works under scrutiny.3 This is all the more surprising when one sees such critics affirming and emphasizing — in one way or another — the autobiographical dimension as intrinsic to this kind of fiction. No one appears to have wondered — so far as I know and in the sense specified below — about the meaning of asserting that the form (and even the significance of works of this sort) is inherently autobiographical. In other words, nobody seems to have been intent on determining how this unusual manner of narration could have possibly arisen at the historical moment in which it did (and precisely as a defining aspect of the new genre). My purpose here is not however to resume a historical inquiry into these matters, however promising such a venture may look from this point of view, since, in all probability, an endeavor of that sort would again make us oblivious of the question at hand. Moreover, I do not believe that a task of such magnitude — no matter how useful and attractive it may be — is within my grasp. But neither do I propose to devote my attention to establish in full the possibility of autobiographical narratives when they are cast in the picaresque mold. An enterprise of this sort is certainly beyond the scope of a study like this, and it would no doubt exceed my competence.