La Voz De La Hechicera: De La Narración Oral Al Registro Judicial

Halfway between orality and writing, the statement of the women accused by the Inquisition of practicing sorcery raises interpretive difficulties that are hard to resolve. The analysis of the confession made by Vicenta Gracia Almenar before the Inquisition of Valencia (1623) will allow us to detect some of the factors that mediate between the discourse of the woman and the text produced by the Inquisition: aspects such as the transcription process (for example, the presence of errors and spelling slips introduced by the notary), the context of emission (which determines the use of a characteristic formulaic language) or the discursive typology (the narration of experiences and magical practices), among others, will shed new light on the construction of the defendant's speech and on its transformation into a judicial text. A medio camino entre la oralidad y la escritura, la declaracion de las mujeres acusadas por la Inquisicion de practicar la hechiceria plantea dificultades interpretativas de dificil resolucion. El analisis de la confesion realizada por Vicenta Gracia Almenar ante la Inquisicion de Valencia (1623) permitira detectar algunos de los factores que median entre el discurso de la mujer y el texto producido por la Inquisicion: aspectos tales como el proceso de transcripcion (por ejemplo, la presencia de errores y lapsus de escritura introducidos por el escribano), el contexto de emision (que determina la utilizacion de un lenguaje formulaico caracteristico) o la tipologia discursiva (la narracion de las vivencias y de las practicas magicas), entre otros, arrojaran nuevas luces sobre la construccion del discurso de la acusada y sobre su transformacion en un texto de caracter judicial.

Automated summary

This passage discusses the interpretive difficulties presented by the statements of women accused of practicing sorcery before the Inquisition. It analyzes factors such as the transcription process and the context of emission, shedding new light on the construction of the defendant's speech and its transformation into a judicial text.