Subaltern Saints: Medieval Iberian Hagiography in Dialogue with Latin American Testimonio

Abstract

This dissertation rereads five thirteenth-century Spanish hagiographic poems in the light of modern subaltern studies: the anonymous Vida de Santa María Egipciaca, and Gonzalo de Berceo’s Martirio de San Lorenzo, Vida de San Millán de la Cogolla, Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos, and Vida de Santa Oria. Observing the numerous similarities between hagiographic writing and twentieth-century Latin American activism literature known as testimonio—the innocent and suffering victim, the elite facilitator of the narrative, the illiterate speaker, and the sense of urgency caused by oppression and injustice—the project concludes that the invention and promotion of martyrs and saints provided a crucial space for Christianity to constitute and maintain its power and identity while at the same time providing a space for diverse, marginalized individuals to find expression and influence in their societies. In hagiography, as in testimonio, powerful writers seek legitimacy within their communities by representing, imitating, conveying, facilitating, or portraying voices in pain, exploiting the heroism of suffering and the ideal of administering to others in need. In this way, the politics of suffering unifies the discourses of both hagiography and testimonio as multivalent interests and variant powers cohabitate not merely to entertain or instruct, but to motivate change in society.