Pesados: Hospitality, Tedium and the Footsteps of Al-Andalus

Abstract

The transmission, translation and recreation of ancient and medieval ideas are one aspect of Hispano-Jewish Culture which is generally accepted in histories of philosophy, science, literature, religion. In some cases the “links” (Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew, Romance, etc.) in this chain of transmission are relatively well documented. In others the evidence to substantiate hypotheses of continuity is yet to be discovered. In between these poles there is a range of possibilities and different states of research. In the following lines an attempt will be made to argue that there is such a chain operating in the fields ofwisdom and literature (metered poetry, rhymed prose). This can be observed in a precise case: That of the development of the theme of the pesado.