„Medyczna pikareska XVII wieku”. Elementy powieści łotrzykowskiej w Discursos medicinales Juana Méndeza Nieto
The article deals with the only work by Juan Méndez Nieto that survived until today, namely his Discursos medicinales, edited between 1606 and 1609. The text stands out from the medical literature of the first half of the seventeenth century: it...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Jagiellonian University
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Terminus |
| Online Access: |
https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/terminus/artykul/medyczna-pikareska-xvii-wieku-elementy-powiesci-lotrzykowskiej-w-discursos-medicinales-juana-mendeza-nieto
|
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | The article deals with the only work by Juan Méndez Nieto that survived until today, namely his Discursos medicinales, edited between 1606 and 1609. The text stands out from the medical literature of the first half of the seventeenth century: it is a vast collection of detailed clinical cases from a period spanning more than five decades of medical practice in Spain and the New World, accompanied by an extensive formulary, and at the same time an exciting story of a doctor driven by a desire to gain fame and recognition. The reflections presented in the article focus on the literary aspects of the work, in particular on the features that bring it close to the conventions of the picaresque novel, an issue that did not garner much scholarly attention in previous research on Discursos medicinales. As Méndez Nieto is almost unknown to the Polish reader, the first part of the article presents a brief overview of the most important biographical facts and discloses the reasons why the text appeared in print in its entirety only at the end of the twentieth century. This is followed by a discussion of the way in which the author constructs a story about himself, focusing on the means used to make his account credible and, thus, to achieve the effect of honesty typical of the picaresque novel. The considerations presented in the article lead to the conclusion that, regardless of whether Méndez Nieto has consciously resorted to narrative strategies typical of this genre, their main function in Discursos medicinales is to fictionalize autobiographical discourse.
|
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2082-0984 2084-3844 |