Forner contra Laviano: la Carta de Marcial en su contexto (la respuesta erudita a los “Copleros” de 1783).

Abstract

In this paper, we edit and comment the Carta de M. V. Marcial a Don Manuel Fermin de Laviano , a satire written by Juan Pablo Forner. First, we read the text in its context: the development of the theatrical career of Manuel Fermin de Laviano between 1779 and 1783 and the regal celebrations of August and September 1783. Second, we edit the Carta , after we have compared its two manuscript testimonies. Third, we comment this text as a result of an erudite answer of rejection against the strategies of self-representation as an author made by Laviano, in order to expose himself as a cultured writer. At last, we focus on the relevance of this Carta as a testimony of the Spanish literary controversies from XVIIIth century, which are characterized by the neoclassical paradigm that rules over the writing process as an access to the cultured literary circles.