José Joaquín Benegasi y Luján in Three Texts from de senectute Period Material and Contextual Comparison

Abstract

In the de senectute period of Madrid poet José Joaquín Benegasi y Luján (1707-70), we can observe a series of intentional mechanisms along with literary and editorial strategies that could be linked to those developed by contemporary Spanish authors. With the material and contextual comparison of three of his mature texts (Fama póstuma, Descripción festiva and Benegasi contra Benegasi), we intend to shed light on the channels of dissemination, the reading public, the social networks and the patronage mechanisms that are exercised throughout the career of this author. All this will help to better outline both his figure and the meaning of his work in the context of the first half of the Spanish eighteenth century.