Chocolate: How a New World Commodity Conquered Spanish Literature

Instituto Cervantes in Manchester and Leeds, in collaboration with the Durham University, introduce the second edition of "Ex Libris: Publications in Hispanic Studies", coordinated by Professor H. Rosi Song (Durham University), to promote new publications about Hispanic Studies.

Fourht session: Chocolate. How a new world commodity conquered Spanish literature, by Erin Alice Cowling.

In terms of its popularity, as well as its production, chocolate was among the first foods to travel from the New World to Spain. Chocolate: How a New World Commodity Conquered Spanish Literature considers chocolate as an object of collective memory used to bridge the transatlantic gap through Spanish literary works of the early modern period, tracing the mention of chocolate from indigenous legends and early chronicles of the conquistadors to the theatre and literature of Spain.

The book considers a variety of perspectives and material cultures, such as the pre-Colombian conception of chocolate, the commercial enterprise surrounding chocolate, and the darker side of chocolate’s connections to witchcraft and sex. Encapsulating both historical and literary interests, Chocolate will appeal to anyone interested in the global history of chocolate.