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The present volume of essays, united under the umbrella title Rewriting Classical Mythology in the Hispanic Baroque, engages with two of the most problematic concepts in the history of literary criticism, and consequently has the ironic pleasure of (re)constructing its own centre of gravity, or more appropriately in this case, of interpretative gravitas. From our post-theory, twentyfirst- century perspective we might sum up the terms ‘Baroque’ and ‘mythology’ as unstable signifiers, each with its own set of variable and often antithetical signifieds. It is appropriate, therefore, that before embarking upon a project that assumes a significant relationship between the two, we should make some attempt to put our complex house in order.

The Baroque as a literary and artistic phenomenon has been a much-debated subject. Over twenty years ago Ann MacKenzie referred to a labyrinthine process of contradictory discussions that had hitherto characterised scholarly explorations of the etymology, meaning and application of the term ‘Baroque’. Although MacKenzie avoided direct confrontation with previous arguments, her analysis of aspects of gongorismo within the context of a ‘Baroque style’ implicitly entered the fray. By demonstrating that the stylistic intricacy, exuberance and self-conscious obscurity of Luis de Góngora’s poetry could exemplify a very individualised Baroque aesthetic, MacKenzie contradicted a school of thought which, over the course of several books and articles on the topic, had refused to acknowledge Góngora’s Baroque credentials. The classification of Góngora as a transitional poet, whose poetry should be categorised, therefore, as mannerist, was a view most persistently voiced by Professor Helmut Hatzfeld. The latter’s attempt to find criteria that would distinguish Mannerism and Baroque as two distinct phenomena of cultural history, while also explaining any possible overlap between them, was the principal objective underpinning his investigations.

Although this approach was not universally accepted, Hatzfeld’s contributions to the debate continue to illuminate many aspects of a peculiarly Spanish Baroque. For instance, his emphasis on the cerebral and critical treatment of antiquity that distinguished the work of this period from the sometimes more indulgent attitude of Renaissance humanism, is often exploited as an informing criterion in critical approaches to seventeenth-century Spanish art and literature.It is generally acknowledged that Hatzfeld’s hand was always surer in the manipulation of the broader brush strokes.