The Various Baratarias: Quixotic Toponymy in the Americas

• King, Ashford ^[1]
  1. [1] Princenton University
• Localización: Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America, ISSN-e 0277-6995, Vol. 43, Nº. 2, 2023, págs. 133-162
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • [...]in an Aristotelian sense, I understand toponymy as a rhetorical operation, since, as Joe Sachs explains, the word topos means both "place" and "[a] ready-made argument that can be adapted to many situations" (290). When Sancho arrives to his governorship and meets the vecinos of the area, "[djiéronle a entender que se llamaba la ínsula barataría, o ya porque el lugar se llamaba 'Baratarlo' o ya por el barato con que se le había dado el gobierno" (2.45: 888). [...]according to the baratarianos, Barataria functions as an adjective to describe the particular insula in question, the site on which the town is located being referred to as Baratario. Susan Byrne explains, also, that the name is linked to the term baratería, which, in the parlance of early modern Iberian jurisprudence loosely meant the receipt of bribes or other undue influence by a judge (86-87). [...]the vastness of the lexical field to which the word barato pertains allows for the toponym Barataria to signify in a polysemic way, ultimately conveying the idea of something (or some place) being of little worth, the concept of engaño (that is, deceit and trickery), and an understanding of a place as characterized by corruption. "Le prix de la chose qu'on acheté [sic], la convention & les conditions" ("Marché'). [...]the phrase may be understood to signify cheapness, much like "barato," but the connotation is perhaps more positive, consistent with the idea of finding a good deal or paying a "good price" for a product