Díez y Foncalda: The Mask and the Author

Abstract

Díez y Foncalda draws in his Poesías varias (1653) the figure of a burlesque poet, alter ego of the author –in the style of Burguillos–, who betrays a process of authorial configuration in which, apart from the strict autobiography, data are intermingled autobiographical, personal anecdotes, historical events and pictures of his city, and in which paratexts and dedicated poems play a very important role. In this study we will try to detect the autobiographical passages intermingled in his work and we will analyze the role they play in shaping the poet. Thanks to this meticulous analysis, we will notice Díez's relationship with the court, as well as the importance that the concepts of center and periphery acquire in his work, both associated with the court environment; likewise, we will shed light on the sociocultural practices associated with authorial awareness and how these are reflected in the design of the work. Not surprisingly, throughout it we can clearly see how the author builds a figure with two faces: one with an authorial profile and the other, social. The first mask presents us with a burlesque poet, while the second is built from the life of the author.