Transgression and Subversion ― Gender in the Picaresque Novel

Is the pícaro, the roguish hero of early modern Spanish adventure fiction, a "real man"? What position does he hold in the gender hierarchy of his fictional social context? Why is the pícara so nonfemale? What effect has her gender constitution on her fictional social context? In terms of a gendered subject, the picaresque figure has hardly been analyzed so far. Although scholars have recognized it as a transgressive and subversive model, the queer effect of the figure is yet to be examined. With regard to the categories of class, generation, topography, and gender, the contributions assembled in this volume explore Spanish, French, English, and German novels narratologically from the perspective of culture and gender theories.

Maren Lickhardt is an assistant professor of German and media studies at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. She completed her doctorate at the University of Mainz, Germany, and worked at the German universities of Siegen and Greifswald. Her main research fields are popular culture, culture and literature of the Weimar Republic, and picaresque novels.

Gregor Schuhen teaches Romance studies at the University of Koblenz-Landau. His research interests are French and Spanish Literature from the sixteenth to twentieth century, masculinity studies, and history of science.

Hans Rudolf Velten is professor of medieval German literature and language at the University of Siegen. He is a specialist in medieval and early modern humor studies and coeditor of numerous volumes. His research includes popular literature, autobiography and theater studies between 1200 and 1600 as well as cultural theory.