WRITING AUTHORITY IN LATE MEDIEVAL ... - Cornell University

2. Experiencing Truth: Managing the Pathos of Truth Telling
For Guzmán and Ayala, the pathos of reading—the ability of a reader to relate his life to
the events in a story—became antithetical to the writing of truth. At first sight, this hypothesis
appears counterintuitive (at least for Guzmán). Given that Generaciones y Semblanzas is a
gathering of biographies, we would expect that his stories appeal to a reader or writer’s basic
sympathy for actual, living persons. Yet, as we will see, even the most “personal” of Guzmán
portraits—that of his immediate influence and famed uncle Pedro López de Ayala—does not
immerse the reader in the narrative in order to convey truth. Guzmán’s depiction of Ayala
(particularly of his role during the Trastamaran Revolution) tempts us to distrust the entire
project of “truth telling” by making it sound like “lisonja” ‘flattery or lies.’ It is this fictional
style that allows Guzmán to “fablar estoria” in the fullest sense of the word: ‘to speak’ and ‘to
fable history’ so as to force his readers to see the stylistic stakes behind a story telling (by
making a life appear like a fable).
A purview of Ayala’s own views on truthful storytelling shows us why Guzmán would be
so interested in using his portrait to “fablar estoria” ‘to speak/to fable history.’ It almost appears
that, in contradistinction to Generaciones, the Prologue to Ayala’s chronicles of the kings of
Castile emphasizes the importance of a feeling of “presence” in the writing of truth in history:
La memoria de los omes es muy flaca, e non se puede acordar de todas las cosas que en el tiempo
passado acaescieron; por lo qual los sabios antiguos fallaron ciertas letras e arte de escriuir, por
que las sciencias e grandes fechos que acescieron en el mundo fuessen escritos e guardados para
los omes los saber, e tomar dende buenos exemplos para fazer bien, e se guardar de mal, e se
fincassen en remembrança perdurable. E fueron fechos despues libros do tales cosas fueron
escritas e guardadas…por ende de aqui adelante yo, Pero López de Ayala, con la ayuda de Dios lo
entiendo continuar assi, e lo mas verdadera mente que pudiere, de lo que vi, en lo qual non
entiendo si non dezir verdad, otrosi de lo que acaesce en mi edad e en mi tienpo en algunas
partidas donde yo non he estado, e lo sopiere por verdadera relacion de sennores e caualleros e
otros dignos de fe de quien lo oy, e me dieron dende testimonio, tomandolo con la mayor
diligencia que pude.
Men’s memory is very weak and cannot remember all the things that happened in the time past;
for this reason, ancient wise men came upon true letters and the art of writing, so that the
knowledge and the great deeds that happened in the world would be written and kept for men to
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