Las Silvas de Juan Lorenzo Palmireno

Abstract

This paper examines the works titled Silva by Juan Lorenzo Palmireno. The analysis of these texts sheds light on Palmireno’s understanding of the word and its possible implications in the sixteenth century. The study identifies an interpretation of silva as a way of writing different from his predecessor, Pedro Mexía, who first used it to title his work Silva de varia lección twenty years ago. The lack of any intention to arrange its structure gives these silvas the characteristic of a literary draft, a feature derived from one of the meanings of silva inherited from the Classical Age. Moreover, Palmireno’s works reveal an encyclopedic project of which the miscellany (represented by silva) forms a part. Furthermore, the silvas of Palmireno act as a transition to the later development of silva as a genre, which finds its educational objective being taken over gradually by the anxiety to provide entertainment.