CFP: Moriscos & Amerindians in the Early Modern Period

This is a call for an EDITED VOLUME on Moriscos and Amerindians during the Early Modern period. The edited volume focuses on historical, anthropological, artistic, religious, literary, linguistic, or comparative approaches relating to Moriscos and Amerindians during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Spain and the Americas.

Since the discovery of the New World, there was a strong desire to equal the process of colonization of America to the long struggle with Islam in the Peninsula.  In the chronicles, these comparisons were abundant and it is not surprising that the soldier Bernal Díaz del Castillo referred to the Aztec pyramids as Mosques. Historians like Francisco López de Gómara or Pedro Mártir de Anglería, who had written about the East, used their erudition to reflect upon the new continents.  In that regard, the generalized European’s incomprehension towards Islam translates into their incomprehension towards the Americas. Although the complex and ambivalent views regarding these two groups led to stereotypes, we believe that they can shed light on the role that Moriscos and Amerindians played in the construction of Spanish empire.

Therefore, this edited volume seeks to draw parallels and points of contact between Spain and America based on the Spanish Empire’s point of view: How is the “Other” seen? How does the “Other” react and confront that view? How are Peninsular politics adjusted to the New World? How is the idea of America defined based on the mental model of the Reconquista? It also aims to expand on the works of Mercedes García-Arenal, Miguel Ángel de Bunes, and, more recently, Karoline P. Cook.

Please send a 500-word abstract, in English, outlining topic and approach, along with a CV, to moriscosandamerindians@gmail.com by March 15, 2017. Decisions will be made by April 15, 2017. The anticipated submission date for final essays is November 15, 2017. Papers from accepted abstracts will undergo a peer-review process before final acceptance. The final volume will be published in English.

This project is a collaboration between Lisette Balabarca (Siena College) and Melissa Figueroa (Ohio University). Questions can be directed to moriscosandamerindians@gmail.com.