MASTER'S THESIS M-919 STAHLMAN, M. Lucille. FOLK SOURCES AND ANALOGUES OF IRVING'S ALHAMBRA: A STUDY OF THREE REPRESENTATIVE TALES. The American University, M .A., 1966 Folklore University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan FOLK SOURCES AND ANALOGUES OF IRVING*S ALHAMBRAt A STUDY OF THREE REPRESENTATIVE TALES by M. Lucille Stahlman Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Signatures of Committee: Chal rman 1 Date : 1966 The American University AMEr^iCAN UN!vEr\3,, Washington, D. C. LIBRARY JHN Z Ü 1966 M^ASHJNGTON. d. c. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I should first like to express my sincere appreciation to the members of my Thesis Committee of The American University for their valuable assistance during the writing of this thesis. Acknowledgments are due the following libraries and organizations whose staff members kindly assisted me in gaining access to valuable books and other materials: The Library of Congress, The Columbus Memorial Library of the Pan American Union, The American University Library, and Georgetown University Library, Washington, D. C,, as well as The Hispanic Society of America, New York, N. Y, TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 I. BACKGROUND OP IRVING'S INTEREST IN SPANISH FOLK SOURCES ........................... 8 II . FOLD SOURCES AND ANALOGUES OF THE ALHAMBRA . ^5 Sources and Analogues of the "Legend of the Moor's L e g a c y " ........................... 46 Sources and Analogues of the "Legend of the Two Discreet Statues" ............... 66 Sources and Analogues of the "Legend of the Rose Alhambra" ...................... 93 III . FROM FOLKLORE TO ART» T ^ ALHAMBRA AS A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES ............... 115 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................. l4l INTRODUCTION A survey of studies that have already been made on the folk sources of Irving's Alhambra revealed that Stanley T. Williams, In The Life of Washington Irving, the recognized authority on which to base any modern study of Irving and his works, devoted one chapter and one supplementary study to The Alhambra, citing a number of possible sources for the sketches in Spanish history, as well as general sources for the tales in legends and stories that were recorded by Irving in his notebooks of 1828 and 1829. In The Spanish Background of American Literature. Williams surveyed the Spanish influence on Irving, as one of eight interpreters of Spanish culture in American Literature. In his published articles, this same scholar discussed the influence of Johann Nikolaus Bohi von Faber and Fernan Caballero, the pseudonym of Cecilia Bohl von Faber, Marcloness of Arco Herraoso, both of whom encouraged Irving to make use of Spanish folk materials In his writing. Sr. M. Delphine Kolker, In Spanish Legends In English and American Literature, I8OO-I86O, devoted part of the study to the influence of the Granada legends on Irving's Alhambra. Marla Soledad In The Moor of Granada In Spanish Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, devoted part of the study to the influence of the Moor in Spanish Literature on The Alhambra. Despite the previous scholarly treatments of Irving's 2 Alhambra, there are several Justifications for the present study and its particular emphases. First of all, the study of folklore has deepened within the last two decades into an important area of scholarly concern. Folklore Is collected enthusiastically by nearly all literate nations. Many states of the United States maintain folklore societies; moreover, many Important universities of the world maintain chairs or departments of folklore.^ The great collection of American ballads and folk songs In the Library of Congress has proved a stimulating resource for scholars and singers. Indeed, "It might be argued that one of the most exciting developments In the study of American literature and culture during the twentieth century has been the accelerating interest in folklore."2 The tales of The Alhambra, which stem from the ancient legends and traditions of Spain, furnish a rich field for the study of folklore. The Williams statement "I wonder . If • . the story of our first man of letters should not be retold in the light of his three long books and his essays on Spain"3 is, perhaps, in itself ample Justification ^Douglas G. Haring, "Folklore," Encyclopedia Americana (i960 ed.), XI, 422g. 2John T. Flannagan and Arthur Palmer Hudson, Folklore ^______ AmericanTloan Literature (White Plains, New York: Peterson and Company, 1958),58)f p. xl. ^Stanley T. Williams, The Spanish Background of American Literature (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955)» I» xli. 3 for further examination of Irving's Alhambra. Earlier studies were segments of larger studies, rather than being detailed studies of The Alhambra. Indeed, the present study goes beyond previous studies In tracing the folk sources of The Alhambra to their remote origins, and thus may make some claim to origi­ nality. The purpose of this thesis Is threefold; (1) to examine the immediate sources of certain key stories In Irving* s Alhambra; (2) to trace these sources to their remote origins In European and Oriental lore; (3) to analyze Irving's artistic adaptation of these materials. The limitation of this thesis to certain of Irving's tales demands further explanation. Irving's Alhambra Is composed of sketches of customs and manners as well as tales or short stories; In the first edition of The Alhambra, published in 1832, the second volume consisted almost wholly of tales. Because the fabulous elements are more prevalent in the tales than in the sketches, this thesis is concerned with that section of Irving's work. Because of limitations of space, three tales from The Alhambra have been chosen, representing varying folk motifs, all of which can be traced to a variety of folk sources and analogues. The tales are: (1) the "Legend of the Moor's Legacy," (2) the "Legend of the Two Discreet Statues," and (3) the *Ligend of the Bose of the Alhambra." The five forms of folklore that constitute the basis for comparison of the Irving tales with the possible sources and analogues are: 4 (1) folk tales, (2) legends, (3) ballads, (4) superstitions, and (5) traditional customs. Passages from the sketches of The Alhambra have, at times, been quoted as recorded source material since Irving himself identified them as factual in a letter to his friend S. A. Allibonei The account of my midnight rambles about the palace is literally true .... Everything in the work relating to myself and to the actual inhabitants of the Alhambra is unexaggerated fact; it was only in the legends that I indulged in "romancing."^ Before beginning a study of the folk sources of The Alhambra, it may be well to define and elucidate the terms that are basic to the present study. The term "analogue" refers to remote folk motifs, similar to those in the immediate sources that Irving used. "Folklore" is applied to orally transmitted myths, legends, stories, proverbs, songs, patterns of festivals and dances, wise sayings and lore, magical formulas, and super­ stitions.^ It comprises traditional creations of people, primitive and civilized, and appears in popular, that is non-literary form. The term "folklore" and the definition felearly imply the "coexistence of two traditions, a literary and artistic one on the one hand, and a folk or popular tradition on the other.The Arne-Thompson school of folklore, which is ^Ibid.. II. 43. ^Haring, o£. cit.. XI, 422e. 6flaria Leach and Jerome Fried (eds.). Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend (New York» Funk and Wagnalls, 1949), I, 403. 5 concerned with the study of European folk tales, has been impressed by the existence of an oral tradition that stands apart from the written or sophisticated, like a parallel growth.^ Q "However, much extinct folklore has been embalmed in print." The diffusion of folklore materials has not been limited to an exchange between various strata of society. It is known to have traveled over vast areas of the earth's surface, thus presenting one of the most fascinating problems of folklore. In this diffusion, folk materials have, to all appearances, been less handicapped by linguistic barriers than have literary materials. The common fairy-tale types are known over virtually the entire Eastern Hemisphere, and ordinary types of local legends are found over the entire European continent. Even folk songs and ballads have crossed linguistic barriers with surprising ease.9 Sir Laurence Gomme, in The Handbook of Folklore. has categorized folklore as follows * (1) traditional narratives, (2) traditional customs, (3) superstitions, and (4) folk speech. Traditional narratives appear in a number of forms that 7lbld.. p. 420. ®Haring, loc. clt. ^Leach and Fried, o£. cit.. I, 405. ^^Haring, loo. cit. 6 require differentiation before going Into this Investigation. (1) "Polk tales are . fictional narratives or short stories that circulate orally, Illustrating the nature of everyday life or recounting the unusual, with entertainment the primary purpose."11 (2) "Fairy tales are narratives about superhuman creatures that produce wonderful changes In the lives of the people who meet them."12 (3) Myths are stories of gods and other superhuman beings which explain natural phenomena, and often parallel the religions of advanced cultures. (4) Legends are stories of wonderful events concerning places and folk heroes that are handed down from one generation to another, and are popularly believed to have a historical basis, although It Is not verifiable. Legends constitute popular history which parallels history on the learned level. (5) Ballads are romantic poems or songs that are characterized by simplicity of structure as well as Impersonality of authorship, and are usually founded upon ancient legends or traditions. In the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, they were secular vocal compositions with musical accompaniment.