Resumen
Exploramos la altamente construida presentación del excepcionalismo mujeril de Teresa de Cartagena en Admiraçión operum Dey, escrito en defensa de su tratado religioso anterior, Arboleda de los enfermos. La argumentación clásica muestra sus habilidades excepcionales y defiende su derecho de ser escritora, pero simultáneamente mantiene una postura estricta de humildad. Teresa llena las formas retóricas de Cicerón con los temas tomados de los sermones del Padre de la Iglesia San Agustín, para convertir sus “debilidades”—mujer, sorda, monja— en oportunidades por las cuales Dios obra maravillas. La autora invita al lector que alabe a Dios, pero a la vez revela sus maravillosas habilidades como escritora.
Abstract
In this article we trace Teresa de Cartagena’s sophisticated, highly constructed presentation of her female exceptionalism in Admiraçión operum Dey, a text she wrote to defend her earlier religious treatise, Arboleda de los enfermos. Teresa’s classical argumentation shows her exceptionalism and simultaneously defends Teresa’s right to be an author, all while maintaining a strict posture of humility. Teresa fills in the rhetorical forms from 1 Margaret R. Ewalt earned her Ph.D from the University of Virginia in 2001 and is an associate professor of Spanish at Wake Forest University. Her research interests include 16th-18th century natural histories that detail Spanish territories, and her publications have appeared on both sides of the Atlantic in Wiston-Salem, North Carolina. 2 A Renee Gutiérez earned her Ph. D from the University of Virginia in 2008 and is an associate professor at Longwood University’s department of English and Modern Languages in Farmville, Virginia. She primarily researches the epic poetry of Latin America. Her most recent article, however, was on the Spanish epic poem El Pelayo, and she has also published on the interculturalization of pre-service teachers.