Exceptional crime in early modern Spain : taxonomic and intellectual perspectives / by Elena del Rio Parra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Río Parra, Elena del, author.

Series:

Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World 68.

The medieval and early modern Iberian world, 1569-1934 ; volume 68.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Murder--Spain--History.

Murder.

Murder--Press coverage--History--Spain.

Murder in literature.

Spain--Social conditions--To 1800.

Spain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (230 pages)

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2019]

Summary:

Exceptional Crime in Early Modern Spain accounts for the representation of violent and complex murders, analysing the role of the criminal, its portrayal through rhetorical devices, and its cultural and aesthetic impact. Proteic traits allow for an understanding of how crime is constructed within the parameters of exception, borrowing from pre-existent forms while devising new patterns and categories such as criminography, the “star killer”, the staging of crimes as suicides, serial murders, and the faking of madness. These accounts aim at bewildering and shocking demanding readers through a carefully displayed cult to excessive behaviour. The arranged “economy of death” displayed in murder accounts will set them apart from other exceptional instances, as proven by their long-standing presence in subsequent centuries.

Contents:

Front Matter

Copyright page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Illustrations

A Murder of Crows

The Taxonomic Axis of Fatality: From Series of Monsters to Serial Murderers

Sketching the Face of Evil: Pioneering Serial Killers

On the Edge: Living between Suicide and Madness

Expressing Criminal Behavior

Dying in Parts: Criminography and the Cult of Excess

Cleaning the Crime Scene

Back Matter

Bibliography

Index of Names and Subjects.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

90-04-39239-4

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004392397 DOI