Lope de Vega’s Mártires de Japón (ca. 1621) is the only Early Modern Spanish play that dramatizes the presence of Spanish missionaries during what is known today as the Japanese “Christian Century” (1549-1639). Los mártires de Japón should be a valuable resource for both students and scholars of literature as well as those interested in studying European literary depictions of East Asia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
    Professor Christina Lee’s critical edition begins with an introduction that discusses the play within its historical context, as it relates to the cultural and political issues that arose as a result of the exchange between the Spanish and Japanese empires. It analyzes the performative aspects of the play, focusing on the visual and linguistic representations of sanctity and Japanese identity. The main text faithfully transcribes the text from the only extant copy of the comedia (handwritten copy from Lisbon, 1637).  It is presented in modernized Spanish and comes accompanied by notes, which aim to facilitate the contemporary reader’s understanding of the drama. The notes also explain anachronisms, idiomatic expressions, and popular Spanish sayings. They clarify allusions to classical, popular, and religious traditions, and contrast Lope’s dramatization of the events with what is known from related historiographical documents. Two bibliographies are included in the edition; the first is on the topic of “The Christian Century” in Japan and the second on Lope de Vega and the Spanish Golden Age Drama.

Ediciones críticas Nº 28
ISBN:  978-1-58871-096-3
PB, 156 pp. $18.95