Manuela, la impensable: un diálogo entre Amor y gloria: el romance de Manuela Sáenz y el Libertador Simón Bolívar (1952), de María Jesús Alvarado, y Manuela Sáenz, la divina loca (195?), de Olga Briceño (Estudios)

En este artículo se analiza el diálogo que establecen las intelectuales latinoamericanas con la Historia oficial por medio de determinadas ficciones de archivo publicadas en la década de 1950. Al respecto, es importante tener en cuenta que tras la adquisición de derechos civiles por parte de las mujeres latinoamericanas en las décadas de 1930 y 1940 –cuando conquistaron el derecho al voto, ingresaron masivamente a las universidades y se erigieron como posibles representantes de los intereses públicos–, las intelectuales del continente demandaron la adscripción a alguna genealogía histórica que les proporcionara coherencia y profundidad identitaria. En muchas ocasiones debieron echar mano del discurso literario para negociar su existencia presente con el pasado histórico y ampliar los límites de la fundación continental con la visibilización de las voces y subjetividades femeninas. En este marco se publican los dos libros que componen el corpus: Manuela Sáenz, la divina loca (195?), de la venezolana Olga Briceño, y Amor y gloria: el romance de Manuela Sáenz y el Libertador Simón Bolívar (1952), de la peruana María Jesús Alvarado. Estas lecturas permitirán reflexionar en torno al proceso de historización de la alteridad demandado por las nuevas ciudadanas del continente, determinar sus alcances y la subjetividad resultante de este enfrentamiento.

Understanding the nature and outcomes of early bilingualism: Romance languages as heritage languages

In this introduction to the special issue on Romance languages as heritage languages, I aim to contextualize the scope of this issue and the contribution it makes to the emerging field of linguistic studies to heritage language bilingualism. Key issues pertaining to the empirical study and epistemology of heritage language bilingualism are presented as well as a critical introduction to the individual articles that comprise this issue.

The king's champion: re-enacting Arthurian romance at the English coronation banquet

Recent scholarship has emphasised the extent to which historical events are reflected in medieval romance. This paper seeks to draw attention to an instance where that relationship appears to have been inverted and a romance motif was carefully recreated at a particularly important event in the historical world. From the fourteenth century onwards, a mounted knight ceremonially rode into the English coronation banquet and issued a challenge to all assembled. The visual detail of the ritual strikingly echoes that of the romance motif of the “intruder at the feast”. This motif crops up in numerous romances, and is particularly associated with Arthurian narratives where it usually serves as a catalyst for adventure, providing the court and the king with an opportunity to justify their authority and reputation. This paper analyses the precise nature of the historical ritual and explores how the romance resonances of the ceremony at the coronation feast could be used to underpin political authority and courtly identity. In doing so, it seeks to underscore the centrality of Arthurian romance to English monarchical self-imagining and the symbolic power which could be ascribed to the genre's themes and conventions.