La minoría que escribe: el Libro de memorias de Miguel Gómez Miedes (1547-1589)

Abstract

During the Modern Era, Western societies fully entered literacy. However, this process was not homogeneous, since it was determined by many geographical, social, religious, cultural and gender factors. Actually, the strength of the orality even generated a rejection of writing as an instrument that increased social inequality as well as the oppression of the weakest. Moreover, literate people did not usually write except to satisfy the demands of everyday life. It can therefore be said that, at least in the 16th century, writing and, in particular, writing memoirs, was still the privilege of a minority. The aim of this paper is to analyse the diary of an individual who belonged to that minority, the Valencian jurist Miguel Gómez Miedes (1547-1589), which, among other things, provides us with many interesting facts about his lifestyle and, specially, about the luxury consumption.

Keywords

• personal diaries
• History of written culture
• luxury consumption
• Miguel Gómez Miedes
• Modern Era