Female Criminality and Fake News in Early Modern Spanish Pliegos Sueltos [Paperback]

This book studies the Early Modern Spanish broadsheet, the tabloid newspaper of its day which functioned to educate, entertain, and indoctrinate its readers, much like todays fake news. Parker Aronson incorporates a socio-historical approach in which she considers crime and deviance committed by women in Early Modern Spain and the correlation between crime and the growth of urban centers. She also considers female deviance more broadly to encompass sexual and religious deviance while investigating the relationship between these pliegos sueltos and the transgressive and disruptive nature of female criminality. In addition to an introduction to this fascinating subgenre of Early Modern Spanish literature, Parker Aronson analyzes the representations of women as bandits and highway robbers; as murderers; as prostitutes, libertines, and actors; as Christian renegades; as enlaved people; as witches; as miscegenationists; and as the recipients of punishment.

Introduction to the Pliegos Sueltos

Women as Bandits and Highway Robbers

Women as Murderers: Mariticide and Infanticide

Women as Prostitutes, Libertines, (and Actors)

Women as Christian Renegades

Women as Enslaved Individuals

Women as Witches and Sorceresses

Women as Miscegenationists

Women Punished (and Transformed into Hybrids)

Conclusion

This book studies early modern Spanish broadsheets, tabloid newspapers of the day which educated, entertained, and indoctrinated readers, much like todays fake news.

Stacey L. Parker Aronson is a Professor of Spanish at the University of Minnesota MolÓ!