Introduction

The chapters describes the terms by which the writings have been classified; identify the women authors who have played a significant role in developing their formal and contextual aspects; contextualize the writings within their time period; and offer possibilities for future research. The inscription of women's writings into literary history thus encouraged gender analyses that emphasized, for the first time, the significance of women's social roles and their contributions to the cultural production of early modern Spain. The contributors to this research companion thus intend to examine the vast array of different kinds of writings contributed by Spanish women to the field of early modern literature and to cultural production in general. The chapter presents an impressive number of women authors, both religious and secular, noble and middle class, renowned and little known, from court to the periphery, which has practiced their craft of writing in all literary genres and through letters, autobiographies, biographies, chronicles, and narratives.