Slavery and the Forensic Theatricality of Human Rights in the Spanish Empire

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Focusing on the intersection of literature and human rights, this study examines how texts from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries in the Spanish Empire employ theatrical and multisensorial strategies to highlight the violence against enslaved individuals and advocate for their rights. It emphasizes the unique backdrop of early human rights discourse from the Salamanca School, particularly the contributions of Bartolomé de Las Casas. The analysis delves into five non-narrative theatrical forms: allegorical, carnivalesque, tragicomic, melodramatic, and tragic.