Lope de Vega and lyric theatre: notes for the configuration of a working corpus

Abstract

This paper seeks to initiate a line of research that addresses the current lack of studies in the field of libretology within Spanish lyrical theatre. We seek to advance an academic tradition with its own methodology and clear parameters that could serve as a foundation for developing this area of research. Accordingly, this paper proposes an approach to specify a corpus that enables the conceptualization of libretology from both a diachronic perspective and within the specific context of peninsular Spanish. It takes into consideration the earliest manifestations of the genre as well as more recent developments. To this end, the corpus is built around the figure of Lope de Vega, author of the first known testimony of this genre in Spain, La selva sin amor, until the very last operas written based upon his texts.