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Este ensayo destaca el carácter transaccional del prólogo de las Novelas ejemplares de Cervantes, a través del lente de los intercambios visuales y verbales; particularmente en lo que se refiere a la reivindicación de las artes “menores.” Arrojando luz sobre sujetos y objetos humildes y sus imperfecciones, el estilo del bodegón español, del que Cervantes toma prestado en su prólogo para construir su autorretrato verbal, subraya la capacidad del autor para recrear cómo el estatus de la ficción de entretenimiento y sus escritores es percibido por los lectores de la modernidad temprana dentro de un mercado artístico cada vez más comercial. El estudio de Gérard Genette sobre los paratextos sirve para dilucidar cómo el prólogo funciona como una “zona entre el texto y fuera del texto, una zona no sólo de transición sino también de transacción.
[...]subverting genre expectations, he reshapes the prologue to create an intricate self-conscious authorial likeness, deliberately constituting a new hybrid space where the literary and the pictorial contaminate each other.5 A close study of these transmedial transactions opens new avenues to explore the manner in which Cervantes's self-effacing ekphrastic representation resonates with the visual culture of his time; and particularly that of the "lowly" genre of bodegones (genre paintings or scenes of everyday life), which shined a naturalistic light on commonplace subjects, objects, and their imperfections. [...]by prompting a re-evaluation of the "humble," Cervantes's self-portrait, in turn, informs the reader's reception and interpretation of his collection of "lowly" entertainment fiction. While early modern novellas were well received by their emergent urban readership, moralists harshly criticized the genre's lack of ethical utility and infectious low subject matter, prompting heated debates and an eventual, though mostly ineffective, prohibition of their publication.7 In 1625 the Junta de Reformación of Castile proposed the suspension of licenses for the printing of both comedias and novelas, alluding to their harmful effects for both spectators and readers, underlining in particular their humble or lowly subject matter.8 The ban would prove to be so difficult to maintain that it required the promulgation of a law in 1627 that attempted to put a stop to printing practices aimed at circumventing the prohibition, such as omitting the names of authors or printers, forging the date of publication, printing in other regions, and/or reformulating the titles of the texts to avoid the term novella.9 The proscription would remain in effect until 1634, when it was finally lifted.10 Although published over a decade earlier, in 1613, it was within this antagonistic context that Cervantes penned the prologue to the reader introducing his dozen Novelas ejemplares.11 In it, he puts into practice Genette's assertion that, "a preface's statement about the importance of the subject no doubt constitutes the main case for valuing the text highly" (200). [...]Cervantes attributes value to his works-a worth that is grounded on their linguistic and generic novelty, as well as recognition of his status as an author, simultaneously setting himself apart from and grouping together translators, imitators, and plagiarizers. [...]the statement has the secondary effect of carefully displacing the collection's origins. Cervantes accomplishes this, in part, by mentioning its foreign provenance, while omitting an explicit recognition of the Italian novelle tradition that was inaugurated by Boccaccio, Bandello, and Cinthio, among others.12 Similarly, he alludes to all possible Spanish precedents rooted in the imitation of the Italian models while withholding specific mentions of authors (Such as Juan de Timoneda's El Patrañuelo [1567], or Juan Manuel's El conde Lucanor [1575]),13 and neglects to reference, altogether, the influence of the peninsular folkloric tradition.14 Stepping into the vacant space he has created, Cervantes underscores the popularity enjoyed by novellas in early modern Spain by citing their copious circulation.15 In turn, the propagation of this narrative mode during the period points toward the demands of an increasingly vernacular reading culture.16 Leaving aside debates on whether his assertion of primacy is partially accurate or a willful misrepresentation, as some critics contend, it prompts further scrutiny of what strategies Cervantes employs to construct his self-representation as a writer within a transnational and increasingly commercial literary setting.17 While the authorial presence overshadows that of the patron in the dedicatory preface,18 Cervantes offers a new form of literary counterfeit in the paratext he directs to the reader.19 Addressed to a growing urban marketplace eager to buy literature that appeals to their own sensibilities, the prologue features a singular ekphrastic self-portrait of its author.
