Abstract

Abstract: This article concerns the earliest news pamphlets printed in Catalonia, notably in Barcelona. Especially from the end of the 16th century, these (normally) single item publications played a crucial role in creating public opinion. Indeed, what is argued here is that they constitute, explicitly or implicitly, celebrations of the powers that be: royal, ecclesiastical, military, civic and divine. In particular, the topics covered by the news pamphlets include royal births, marriages and deaths; beatifications, canonisations, miracles and martyrdoms; victories against Moslem, Protestant and (in the case of the Catalan War of Secession) Spanish enemies; the fight against crime and disorder; and the acceptance of God’s will in the face of natural disasters. As in the rest of Europe, thanks to censorship and self-censorship, in Catalonia bad news simply did not find its way into print.Key words: printed news pamphlets, press history, news, public opinion, celebrations of power, censorship, self-censorship.

Abstract

En este artículo se comentarán tres entremeses de revista de figuras: el anónimo El hospital de los podridos, que parece inaugurar el subgénero, seguido de El examinador miser Palomo, de Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza, que lo consolida, representado en 1617 en las fiestas de Lerma, y finamente El comisario de figuras, de Alonso de Castillo Solórzano, con el propósito de considerar: 1) si en ellos se pueden constatar procedimientos carnavalescos; 2) si es posible contextualizar el sentido de la mofa y de la burla, y 3) si esta orientación puede llamarse subversiva y responder a algún propósito ideológico.