Gender in Early Constructions of Authorship, 1447-1518

The notion and construction of authorship has been reinterpreted and shaped throughout history. In the Iberian world, the rise of authorial self-consciousness begins to manifest in the early thirteenth century, thanks to the gradual rise of vernacular languages as literary languages, which afforded a new understanding of the writer’s craft and place in society. The establishment of decrees within the sixteenth-century book trade reshaped it by making it compulsory to register on the work certain bibliographical details. The turn of the seventeenth century, furthermore, witnessed a rapid commercialization of the literary product — despite remaining rooted in a system of patronage, literary production began to give way to the active role of printer-publishers and booksellers. Writing for publication was a complex venture for most aspiring authors, to be sure. Nevertheless, pre-modern literary careers continue to be qualified, chiefly upon gender grounds. This essay, therefore, will reflect on the role of gender in early constructions of female authorship within Iberian book history, using a critical stance informed by new approaches to the field. It is hoped that it will help to provoke more nuanced discussions on the role of women as cultural producers within the pre-modern Iberian literary field.