Writings on the Streets: Ephemeral Texts and Public Space in the Early Modern Hispanic World

Abstract

This chapter focuses on texts disseminated in the public sphere, in the streets and squares of Hispanic cities in the Golden Age. Taking examples from both Spain and its empire, it investigates the material characteristics of public writing, the places where it was published and reception practices. It describes a process which combined different communication technologies, namely the spoken word, writing and sometimes visual culture. In considering the functions and significance of writing practices, the chapter emphasises the roles of conveying information, publicity or protest – the three main dimensions of public writing in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.