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Loading... Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World (1829)by Catalina de Erauso
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Catalina de Erauso’s journal tells the fascinating story of her life as a nun turned military and her incredible adventures in South America during colonial times. The single fact that she lived as a man among soldiers in those times is in itself an amazing story. The foreword by Marjorie Garber gives interesting details about those colonial times when royalty and the priesthood ruled. Garber ponder’s about Catalina de Erauso’s psyche and sexual identity, being careful not to interpret the lieutenant nun’s life solely by today’s cultural Western values. The book includes interesting notes on the translation. One difficulty was bringing to life a Spanish picaresque style that those who read “El Lazarillo de Tormes” in school might recognize. The translators, Michele and Gabriel Stepto, also faced other difficulties that they discuss. Chief among them, was the inability to translate gender (adjectives ending in O or A), as those gender endings bring into focus her identity. There is a recent version of Catalina de Erauso’s text in the original Spanish, which I hope to read soon. This book is a treasure! Throughout history women have gone underground to pursue their chosen professions, and Catalina de Erauso wanted to be a soldier. She got to be one, and wasn't the only military "maid" in the early seventeenth century. The life had its problems as well as its liberations. the tone of the translation is a masterly choice. My daughter read this book during a college curse dedicated to the study of "Don Quixote". This and some other novellas were companion reads, examples of the "picaresque" novel. The difference in the case of this novella is that Lieutenant Nun really existed, and he was really a she disguised and living as a man. This autobiography from the early 1600s is somewhat difficult to believe, yet she really did exist and apparently was the subject of beloved folklore in Peru and Spain. Go figure! It was a quick and interesting read. A quick read but action packed...I wished there could have been more. I love reading about strong women in history. A different translation can be found here: http://www.mith2.umd.edu/eada/html/display.php?docs=erauso_autobiography.xml&... no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs abridged inInspiredIs a study ofHas as a studyDoña Catalina de Erauso : la monja alférez, IV ̊centenario de su nacimiento by Jose Ignacio Tellechea Idigoras En busca de Catalina de Erauso : identidades en conflicto en la vida de la monja alférez by Eva Mendieta Garrote AwardsNotable Lists
"English version of Historia de la monja alférez (1988), the 'autobiographical' account of a Basque woman who fled convent life in Spain; made her way to the Indies disguised as a page boy; and spent 22 years as a soldier in the colonies, mostly in Chile and the Perus, in early 17th century. Traditionally rejected as a work of fiction, Catalina de Erauso's story has been verified - to the extent that verification is possible - as well as authenticated by recent scholarship. [MTH]"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58. No library descriptions found. |
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Prime among her accomplishments are her ability in not arousing suspicion of her true gender; even when fully exposed. Erauso cites a number of specific moments where in her own words she states she was naked. Whether or not Erauso is being honest is a question that cannot be answered; but if we take this to be true then we must assume that her definition of nudity referred to her being only bare above the waist. In a moment of dry humor, following an arrest in the city of La Plata wherein she was stripped on a rack, instead of the expected discovery of her gender, Erauso writes that a lawyer instead pointed out that she is a Basquero. Her obvious delight in pointing out the various instance where no one guesses her gender disguise makes the case that perhaps some exaggeration exists, if only to make the story more exciting. As such is the case, if some exaggeration is to be expected form the original source, the retelling of her story must certainly be seen as somewhat suspect. The sources of this story come from two basic texts, that of Spanish royal historian Juan Bautista Munoz and Joaquin de Ferrer. In both these cases its argued that some embellishment could have been made in their setting down the story to print, if not purposely, then unwittingly. Stephanie Merrim's review of the story believes Erauso's story to be historically accurate, but states, "…that Erauso herself probably told her story to another writer who then added to what she had related." Although history does correlate the existence of Erauso and the basic tent poles of her life story with documents and witness affidavits, the authenticity of the details remain a matter of personal judgment.
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