On the Social and Cultural History of the Moriscos University of Minnesota, 505 University Ave. S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55414 Phone: (612) 623-0629

Abstract

Following the reconquest of Granada in 1492, the Muslim minority in Spain,
known demgatorily as Moriscos, were subjected to harsh measures in the form
of edicts and restrictions. Forced to live in a hostile environment, which happened
to be their homeland, they developed their own attitude, accompanied
by passive resistance and sporadic revolt. This attitude was expressed in an
extensive, clandestine and mostly anonymous literature known as the Aljamiado
literature, which was for the most part written in the Romance in Arabic script.
Although the Moriscos preserved a sentimental attachment to Arabic as their
own language, they were no longer able to use it. This literature was, for the
most part, inspired by Arabic models that not only expressed defiance towards
the oppressor, but also reiterated Islamic values. Written mostly during the
XV and XVI centuries, the Aljamiado literature is significant for the study
of cultural change, offering valuable data for the historian, religious scholar,
sociologist, anthropologist, philologist, belle - lettrist, and civil and human
rights advocate, who would gain insight into the fate of a deprived and
persecuted minority living in a hostile environment.
The work under review is intended according to its author “to survey and
analyze the selfexpression of the Moriscos as contained in their own literature;
it also assesses the status of a minority struggling for survival, with reference
to ideological conflict, the clash of religions and cultures, and differing mutual
perceptions.” Although the work is intended to be a general “cultural and social
history,” as the sub-title indicates, it is in many ways a study of the mentulitae
of a group of people who were forced to live on the defensive in their bid
for survival ...