Cervantes in Algiers: a Captive's Tale

María Antonia Garcés Cervantes in Algiers A CAPTIVE’S TALE Cervantes in Algiers A CAPTIVE’S TALE Cervantes in Algiers A CAPTIVE’S TALE María Antonia Garcés Vanderbilt University Press NASHVILLE © 2002 Vanderbilt University Press All rights reserved First edition 2002 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Manufactured in the United States of America Frontispiece: Detail from La Ciudad de Argel [The City of Algiers] (c. 1700) N.A. Reprinted by permission of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional. Text design: Dariel Mayer Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Garces, Maria Antonia. Cervantes in Algiers : a captive’s tale / Maria Antonia Garces.— 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbn 0-8265-1406-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 1547-1616—Captivity, 1575–1580. 2. Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 1547–1616— Knowledge—Algeria. 3. Algeria—History—1516–1830. 4. Islam—Relations—Christianity I. Title. pq6338.a6g37 2002 863'.3—dc21 2002004335 To the memory of my beloved son Álvaro José Lloreda Garcés, December 29, 1962–March 17, 1988 Farewell, thou child of my right hand and joy! My sin was too much hope of thee, lov’d boy. —Ben Jonson, “On My First Son” Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface and Acknowledgments xi Introduction: Cervantes: Trauma and Captivity 1 1 The Barbary Corsairs 15 2 Writing Algiers: Masters, Slaves, and Renegades 66 3 Staging Captivity: El trato de Argel 124 4 An Erotics of Creation: La historia del cautivo 182 5 “Anudando este roto hilo” [Tying Up This Broken Thread] 233 Chronology 255 Notes 261 Bibliography 299 Index 327 Illustrations A Bird’s-Eye View of Algiers 61 The Assault of Charles V 62 Algiers: The Siege of Charles V 63 The Port and City of Algiers 64 Khair ad-Dìn Barbarossa 65 Christian Slave Beaten in Algiers 119 French Christian Slave in Algiers 120 Algerian Corsair Captain 121 An Admiral of the Algerian Fleet 122 A Jew from Algiers 123 Torture of the Hook 178 The Gate of Bab Azoun 179 An Algerian Holy Priest 180 Turkish Soldier from Algiers 181 Algerian Woman at Home 230 A Moorish Woman from Granada 231 Algiers: XVIIth Century 232 ix Preface and Acknowledgments THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN during the difficult period of mourning that followed the death of my beloved son Álvaro José, my firstborn and clos- est interlocutor. It is ironic that a book on the effects of trauma on Cer- vantes, one planned before the fatality that took my son’s life, ended up being composed in the midst of what may be the worst of traumas: the death of one’s child. Like other forms of emotional turmoil, trauma speaks to the encounter with death that marks catastrophic events and to the vi- cissitudes of the survivor who asks why he or she did not die in the other’s place—an additional trauma felt by a parent who feels responsible for the physical and psychological well-being of her children. During this period of mourning, I have been sustained by the love and support of my family, especially of my other four children, who have often rescued me from grief and have granted me new illusions. Close friends have also comforted me. Teaching has enormously aided the work of heal- ing, imbuing my life with delight and exciting new projects. The most im- portant resource in this process of grieving and recovery, however, has been my writing on Cervantes. More than anyone or anything else, Cervantes has been the great teacher, the healer who has helped me to reattach “el roto hilo de mi historia” [the broken thread of my life] as I read, and wrote about, his fictions. Laughing with these fictions, reinterpreting them time and time again, often from different perspectives, pondering the profound questions that emerge from Cervantes’s texts, I have been pressured to sound the complexities of literary and psychic constructions, both in Cer- vantes and in myself. The admiration I have always felt for Cervantes, spe- cifically for his extraordinary capacity for invention, has been deepened as I explored the processes of renewal and recreation mirrored by his works. If wit and humor in Cervantes are a fundamental tribute to life, the re- markable fertility of his creations that swirl around the vortex of trauma has shown me that it is possible to turn trauma into song. I must thank Cervantes, first and foremost, for conspiring with me to transform mourning into a creative endeavor. His festive affirmation of Eros, symbolized by his dictum “¿quién pondrá riendas a los deseos?” [who can put a rein on xi xii CERVANTES IN ALGIERS: A CAPTIVE’S TALE desire?], has enabled me to reassemble the shattered pieces of myself, to- gether with those expressions of joy and grief that assert the continuity of life. I BEGIN THESE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS by expressing my thanks to my four children—María Lucía, Jorge Alberto, Felipe, and Mariana Lloreda Garcés —who have offered their love and support during the writing of this book, and ever since I began an academic career, as a graduate-student–mom. They know that “children are half of one’s soul,” as Cervantes wrote in a little-known play entitled La entretenida (“Mitades son del alma/los hijos”). I thank them for the respect, not devoid of humor, with which they ac- knowledge my accomplishments and for the lovely gift of their own children. Her geographical proximity in the United States has allowed my daughter María Lucía to provide much tender loving care and thoughtful insights during this process. After Álvaro José’s death, Jorge Alberto was thrust into the difficult position of acting as the mainstay of our family. He has assisted us all with his generosity and has sustained me, in particu- lar, with his enduring love. Felipe has cheered me with his creativity, his wit, and his psychological insights, which have oftentimes afforded a new vision of reality. And Mariana has brightened my days with the enthusiasm she brings to any task she undertakes and with her devoted daughterly affection. I am deeply grateful to my mother, Mariana Arellano de Garcés, for her support in every phase of my career, one that, to her chagrin, has taken me to another continent. I express my admiration for the grace and cour- age with which she has faced adversity. My brothers Jorge and Ricardo Garcés have always stood behind me with their affection. My sister María Cristina Garcés teaches me constantly about loyalty and giving; her love has been a source of motivation. My father would have liked to follow this project to its conclusion. His love, assistance, and recognition were essen- tial in the initial stages of my career as a scholar. I would also like to express my profound gratitude to my daughter-in- law Carolyn Field for the love she gave my son Álvaro José, and for the children she bore him, Alejandro and Juliana, who have brought great joy into my life. She has been a daughter to me since her marriage to Álvaro José, and we are now united by love and death. More than anyone, Diana de Armas Wilson has helped me to give birth to this book. With her critical vision and extraordinary generosity, she has encouraged me to formulate my hypotheses about Cervantes and Algiers and to weave literary history with trauma theory. I thank her for her friend- ship and affection, which have been instrumental in the creation of my new life in the United States. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii The following friends and scholars have read chapters of this book, often in their earliest versions, and have helped me to assess the tenor of my research. Debra Castillo has often read pieces of my work and offered her sharp insights. John Kronik read a partial manuscript with meticulous at- tention and provided generic directions. Ciriaco Morón Arroyo read more extensive sections of the manuscript and gave me his valuable input, in- cluding his help in deciphering various sixteenth-century documents. The chair of Romance Studies at Cornell University, Mitchell Greenberg, provided invaluable support as well as special funds that enabled me to finish my bibliography on time. Mieke Bal’s brilliant reading of two embryonic chapters strengthened my revision of the manuscript. Max Hernández prof- fered his learned psychoanalytical insights. Kate Bloodgood, editor par ex- cellence, has rehabilitated many passages in this book and has shed light on Islamic determinism. Andrés Lema-Hincapié helped me to tame an un- manageable bibliography. Spanish historian Mercedes García Arenal has offered intellectual stimulation and endless bibliographical suggestions on the sixteenth-century Maghrib and its relations with Spain. I also thank the two readers of my manuscript for Vanderbilt University Press, whose generous comments improved the revision of this study. My special thanks to copyeditor Katharine O’Moore-Klopf for her sensitivity and impeccable work. I am deeply grateful to all of these readers and writers. Memorable exchanges with María Soledad Carrasco, Edward Dudley, Javier Herrero, Bob ter Horst, and the late Ruth El Safar, as well as with Michel Moner and Augustin Redondo across the Atlantic, have vastly en- riched my thinking about Cervantes. Various friends and scholars in Co- lombia have provided their valuable support. I am indebted to Carlos José Reyes, director of the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia, for inviting me to speak at the cycle of conferences “Cervantes y El Quijote,” which took place in Bogotá, in November 1997. My paper for this conference became the seed of this book, eventually expanding into various chapters on Cer- vantes and Algiers.

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