ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book seeks to the construction of a national identity that suppresses ethnic, gender, and sexual difference. It focuses on early modern discourses on wealth through a reading of arbitrista literature and picaresque narratives, particularly the best seller of the latter genre. The book addresses questions of patronage, authorship, and the change brought about by the emerging literary market and describes the popular religious press of Spanish sixteenth century, its accessibility to a semiliterate readership, and the unpredictability of use or reception of the same. It examines the emblematic mode of thought in Spain around 1600, concentrating on its appropriation by theorists and well-known writers for purposes of education or indoctrination, projecting a type of subjectivity that is dependent upon dominant values. The book explores legal and literary modes of representation of the nation and its citizens.
