Vida de Lazarillo de Tormes

Since 1554 Lazarillo de Tormes presents a fascinating riddle: autobiography or fiction? Anonymous? or the work of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Sebastián de Orozco, Lope de Rueda or Cristóbal de Villalón? Or Alfonso de Valdés, as now a Spanish professor assures? Is it a new genre or a mere precursor? It is taught as a picaresque novel canonic work, but there are those who ascertain that the genre was born in 1599 with Mateo Alemán's Guzmán de Alfarache. Being aware of the historical moment, we realize that Lazarillo speaks openly about a despicable reality: famine and abandonment in a society ruled by prejudice and persecution in the name of God and the Crown. Four editions were published in 1554; another version appeared the following year, with Lázaro metamorphosed into a fish. The Church prohibited Lazarillo in 1559, and it was not until 1573 that Juan López de Velasco¿s ¿purged¿ Lazarillo castigado (Punished Lazarillo). This ¿clean¿ edition, with a chastised and penitent Lazarillo, was translated and reprinted into English, French, and German while the original version was forbidden in Spain until the 1800s. For over 450 years, Lazarillo has provoked debate about facts that are not far from the realities of our present-day world. With this critical edition, by prof. Asima F. X. Saad Maura we offer the delight of the picardías, the mischievousness, of the young lad who gives title to this great text and invite to discover the many connections that he has with the outcasts of all times.Saad Maura, Asima F. X. is the author of 'Vida de Lazarillo de Tormes', published 2007 under ISBN 9781934768037 and ISBN 1934768030.