Antisemitism in a Renaissance Dialogue: The Ideological Role of Jews and Judaism in 'Viaje de Turquía'

Despite being widely regarded by commentators as advocating cultural and religious diversity due to its ideological indebtedness to reformist and humanist thought and its largely flattering portrayal of Ottoman Constantinople, the anonymous sixteenth-century dialogue known as 'Viaje de Turquía' is nevertheless reliant upon antisemitic stereotypes to facilitate the development of its plot and central characters. The analysis presented herein addresses the conspicuous gap in our current understanding of this seminal example of Spanish Renaissance literature by scrutinizing the crucial parallels it draws between two situations presented as broadly analogous: Christ’s persecution at the hands of the Pharisees and his subsequent crucifixion by the Roman imperial authorities, and the hero’s mistreatment by Sephardi physicians and the constant threat of execution held over him by the Ottomans. A fundamental aim of this study is therefore to challenge and ultimately alter scholarly perceptions of a text widely acclaimed for its espousal of Renaissance humanist ideals, and, by extension, to underscore the fact that those ideals were by no means unanimously concerned with achieving harmonious coexistence with the Other.