Arabic literary elements in the structure of the Libro de buen amor (II)

Abstract

This article examines several aspects of Arab- Islamic culture, about which Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita, and putative author of the Libro de buen amor, betrays evidence of some knowledge. It goes on to suggest that, while the LBA’s literary materials are largely of Western origin, its structure is indebted to a unique combination of certain Oriental literary genres, thereby making it a culturally hybrid work. The article further suggests that the LBA may be read according to three levels of meaning, in accordance with the Averroistic approach to, and conception of, truth, of which the highest, or philosophical level, involves a veiled critique of the doctrine of ecclesiastical celibacy, adopted by the Western Church only a century before the Archpriest composed his work.