Reviewed by:

• Arms and Letters: Military Life Writing in Early Modern Spain by Faith S. Harden
• Luis F. Avilés

THIS BOOK analyzes a select number of autobiographies written by soldiers in early modern Spain, with a special emphasis on the literary and social forces that contributed to their authorial self-fashioning. The constitution of a first-person narrative voice depended upon several factors. Faith Harden's approach focuses on the central role played by honor in the writing of a soldier's experiences, at times imposing limits while at others promoting creativity and nuance. This allowed soldiers of lower social rank to infuse dignity in their writings even when their deeds were questionable. Honor was highly important for soldiers whose purpose was to receive a reward, enhance their stature, or simply produce a spectacle of their own self. Harden proposes that the fashioning of a self depended on a creative understanding of honor as a public extension of the author's lived experiences in a complex economy of benefits, recognition, rewards, pleasure, social mobility, and the dangers of public self-exposure. Another factor crucial for fashioning an authorial voice was the diversity of genres available. Harden convincingly traces genres such as chivalric romances, lives of martyrs, military treatises, legal testimonies, and the picaresque novel, among others. She documents very well the variety of ways in which these genres were incorporated into soldiers' autobiographies. Harden makes a strong argument for the importance of taking into account all the forces (literary, material, social, and sexual) that intervene in the creation of the written self.

Chapter 1 is devoted to Diego García de Paredes's (1468–1533) Breve Suma, giving an account of how he was able to appropriate and transform the negative perspective of the mercenary soldier into a record of experiences that are worthy of emulation. Harden focuses on the way García de Paredes emphasizes his strong sense of personal honor and camaraderie towards other soldiers, effectively counteracting the negative perception of mercenary soldiers by prospective readers. For this soldier-autobiographer, individuality and loyalty to himself and his fellow comrades was more important than obeying superiors. Harden identifies a shifting articulation of exemplarity as well, arguing that García de Paredes proposes himself as a heroic model for other soldiers. Exemplarity also stems from the chivalric code and how [End Page 423] it was appropriated by soldiers like Paredes, who were from lower social strata. Harden provides a lucid account of the idiosyncratic way in which the author makes use of the chivalric code, as for example, when he is implicated in various acts of intense violence, or when he demonstrates his lack of refinement towards women.

In chapter 2 Harden focuses on what she describes as the "petitionary mode of life writing" (21) in the works of Diego Suárez Corvín (1552–1623) and Domingo de Toral y Valdés (1598–1635). The petitionary mode is characterized by a relationship of inequality between the writer and the intended receiver of the text. Thus, writing is meant to be a service that provides some worthwhile knowledge obtained though experience and study. For example, Harden argues that Suárez Corvín displays his own intellectual capacity, promotes truthfulness and credibility above fiction, and demonstrates moderation and sexual self-control, distancing himself from the traditional image of the unruly soldier. Exiled to what he considers a "forgotten frontier" (55), Suárez Corvín turns into a historian, providing a new perspective on the North African campaigns. In the case of Toral, his Relación de la vida (1635) proposes rational self-control as an exceptionally positive attribute that generates authority. The text is highly critical of the Spanish military and, in consequence, conveys a deep hopelessness for the future. Harden contextualizes Toral's critique and his emotional distress by paying close attention to stoicism, a masculine paradigm characterized by control, integrity, and self-mastery. Toral is critical of promotions based on birth instead of experience and merit. For Harden, both autobiographies fail in their attempt to gain material rewards...

 审阅者：

• 
  武器与信件：近代早期西班牙的军事生活写作作者：Faith S. Harden
•  路易斯·F·阿维莱斯

本书分析了近代早期西班牙士兵撰写的一些自传，特别强调了促成他们作者自我塑造的文学和社会力量。第一人称叙事声音的构成取决于几个因素。费斯·哈登的方法侧重于荣誉在士兵经历的写作中所发挥的核心作用，有时会施加限制，有时会促进创造力和细微差别。这使得社会地位较低的士兵能够在他们的著作中注入尊严，即使他们的行为值得怀疑。对于士兵来说，荣誉非常重要，他们的目的是获得奖励、提高自己的地位，或者只是创造自己的奇观。哈登提出，自我的塑造取决于对荣誉的创造性理解，荣誉是作者在利益、认可、奖励、快乐、社会流动性和公开自我暴露的危险的复杂经济中生活经历的公共延伸。形成作者声音的另一个关键因素是可用流派的多样性。哈登令人信服地追溯了骑士传奇、烈士生平、军事论文、法律证词和流浪汉小说等类型。她很好地记录了这些类型被纳入士兵自传的各种方式。哈登有力地论证了考虑所有干预书面自我创造的力量（文学、物质、社会和性）的重要性。

第一章专门介绍迭戈·加西亚·德·帕雷德斯（Diego García de Paredes，1468-1533）的布雷夫·苏马（Breve Suma），讲述了他如何能够将雇佣兵的消极观点转化为值得效仿的经历记录。哈登重点关注加西亚·德·帕雷德斯强调他对其他士兵强烈的个人荣誉感和友情的方式，有效地抵消了潜在读者对雇佣兵的负面看法。对于这位军人自传作家来说，个性以及对自己和战友的忠诚比服从上级更重要。哈登也指出了榜样的转变，他认为加西亚·德·帕雷德斯将自己视为其他士兵的英雄榜样。模范性还源于骑士准则以及[结束第423页]它如何被像帕雷德斯这样来自社会下层的士兵所采用。哈登清晰地描述了作者利用骑士准则的特殊方式，例如，当他卷入各种激烈暴力行为时，或者当他表现出对女性缺乏教养时。

在第二章中，哈登重点讨论了迭戈·苏亚雷斯·科尔文（Diego Suárez Corvín，1552-1623）和多明戈·德·托拉尔·瓦尔德斯（Domingo de Toral y Valdés，1598-1635）作品中她所描述的“生活写作的诉状模式”（21）。请愿模式的特点是作者与文本的预期接收者之间存在不平等关系。因此，写作是一种提供通过经验和学习获得的有价值知识的服务。例如，哈登认为苏亚雷斯·科尔文展示了自己的智力能力，提倡真实性和可信性高于虚构，并表现出节制和性自制力，远离了传统的不守规矩的士兵形象。苏亚雷斯·科尔文被流放到他认为的“被遗忘的边疆”（55），后来成为一名历史学家，为北非战役提供了新的视角。就托拉尔而言，他的《生活关系》（Relación de la vida，1635）提出，理性的自我控制是一种产生权威的异常积极的属性。该文本对西班牙军队持高度批评态度，因此传达出对未来的深深绝望。哈登通过密切关注斯多葛主义，将托拉尔的批评和他的情绪困扰置于背景中，斯多葛主义是一种以控制、正直和自我克制为特征的男性范式。托拉尔对基于出身而非经验和功绩的晋升持批评态度。对于哈登来说，两本自传都未能获得物质回报……