Black Protagonists of Early Modern Spain

** Awarded the MLA's Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione prize for a translation of a literary work (December 2024) **

The prize committee's citation:"In the three Spanish comedias included in Black Protagonists of Early Modern Spain, which appear together and in English for the first time, the seemingly rigid social hierarchies that form the setting of so many comedias are put to the test when three talented Black men break through the racial barriers. Michael Kidd's selection of plays will appeal to students of literature, history, cultural studies, and the African diaspora. The plays themselves are framed between a highly informative preface and introduction and an extensive annotated glossary of people and places. However, it is the accessibility, fluidity, and vibrancy of language that make this volume an excellent choice for all readers to experience and enjoy in English the same kind of wordplay that was integral to the Spanish comedia of the early modern period."

From the back cover: Remarkable products of a nation deeply implicated in the Atlantic slave trade, the seventeenth-century Spanish plays Juan Latino, The Brave Black Soldier, and Virtues Overcome Appearances appear together in English for the first time in this volume. The three protagonists not only defy the period's color-based prejudices but smash through its ultimate social barrier: marriage into the white nobility. Michael Kidd's fluid translations and extensive critical introduction, bibliography, and glossary are enhanced by Hackett's title support webpage. Black Protagonists of Early Modern Spain is essential reading for students of theater history, Spanish literature, and the African diaspora.