Public Celebrations, the Other, and Emotional Responses. New approaches to the Iberian Royal entries in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period

Abstract

Traditionally, when dealing with the study of urban celebrations in the Middle and Early Modern periods, historiography has accepted the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk to point out the magnificence and diversity of artistic expressions that were part of these ephemeral events. Without totally opposing this idea, reinforced by methodological currents such as the history of emotions, this paper aims to reflect on the concept of urban celebrations. We will provide new perspectives in the study of these performances, especially their short-lived nature, which prevented the people from having access to all the acts and messages that involved these events. To this end, we propose a new approach to documentary and literary sources, from the point of view of the analysis of the Muslim other. We study its visual representation as well as its role as a spectator and active participant, especially as a dancer or musician. This allows us to present a new methodological framework using Valencia as a case study.