José Francisco de Isla
José Francisco de Isla (born April 24, 1703 in Vidanes in the Kingdom of León , † November 2, 1781 in Bologna ) was a Spanish writer and translator who, in the tradition of Miguel de Cervantes, treated the environment of his Spanish homeland as satire and therefore with was very popular with his contemporaries.
Career
José Francisco de Isla received a good education and entered the Jesuit order at the age of 16 . He then studied philosophy and theology at the University of Salamanca .
His first attempts at writing were translations from French. As a satirist he first made himself known through the small pamphlet "El dia grande de Navarra" (Pamplona 1746), in which he spoke of the Navarrese to celebrate Ferdinand VI's accession to the throne . pompous festivities were ridiculed with such fine irony that those affected initially had no idea of the satirical intention and thanked the author.
Isla's main work is the satirical novel "Historia del famoso predicador Fray Gerundio de Campazas, alias Zotes" (Madrid 1758, vol. 1), which he published under the false name Francisco Lobon de Salazar . In the manner of Don Quixote, he castigated the bad pulpit eloquence of that time and caused an extraordinary stir when it appeared, but also aroused the author so many enemies among the clergy that the book was banned by the Inquisition.
When the Jesuits were expelled from Spain in 1767, de Isla went to Bologna and only from here was able to get the second volume of his novel to be printed outside of Spain under the wrong printing location Campazas (1770). Soon, despite the prohibition of the Inquisition, different editions of both parts followed, and since then the "Fray Gerundio" (later increased by a third part) has been printed very frequently as one of the most popular books in modern Spanish literature (best Madr., 1804, 3rd part) Vol .; das. 1813, 4 vol .; Leipz. 1885, 2 vol.) And also translated into several European languages (English by Baretti, Lond. 1771; German by Bertuch, Leipz. 1773).
The hero's name has become proverbial in Spain, and the novel, like Don Quixote, achieved its purpose by completely discrediting the bad pulpit speakers.
Isla died in Bologna on November 2, 1781.
After his death his Spanish translation of "Gil Blas" was published (Madr. 1787, 4 vols., And more often); "Cartas familiares" (das. 1786–89; 2nd ed. 1790, 6 vols.), Which are among the best examples of the Spanish letter style, and his "Sermones" (das. 1796, 6 vols.). In addition, various smaller, partly satirical, partly ascetic writings have been received from him. His literary estate appeared under the title: "Rebusco de obras literarias, así en prosa como en verso" (Madr. 1797, 2 vols.). Several things printed under his name are not from him. A very good edition of his "Obras escogidas", obtained by Father Felipe Monlau, was published as the 15th volume of the " Biblioteca de autores españoles " (Madr. 1850).
literature
- Dietrich Briesemeister: José Francisco de Isla. Historia del famoso predicador Fray Gerundio de Campazas, Aliás Zotes, in: The Spanish novel from the Middle Ages to the present, V. Roloff and H. Wentzlaff Eggebert (eds.), Düsseldorf 1986, pp. 171–192.
- Ludger Scherer: Diálogo de los prólogos: La Historia del famoso predicador Fray Gerundio de Campazas de José Francisco de Isla y el Quijote de Miguel de Cervantes, in: von Tschilschke, Christian / Gelz, Andreas (eds.): Literatura - Cultura - Media - Lengua. Nuevos planteamientos de la investigación del siglo XVIII en España e Hispanoamérica. [Files of the eponymous section of the Regensburg Hispanic Congress 2003]. Frankfurt / Main: Lang 2005, 177–186.
- Raetz, Anneliese: Francisco José de Isla: Man, the reformer, the critic. Cologne, Phil. F., Diss. V. June 11, 1970
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Isla, José Francisco de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish writer and translator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 24, 1703 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vidanes , Kingdom of León |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 2, 1781 |
| Place of death | Bologna |