Negro sobre blanco: Esclavitud y blancura en Cervantes y Zayas

This article analyses the black characters of one novella by Cervantes (El
celoso extremeño) and two by Zayas (El prevenido engañado and Tarde llega
el desengaño). On the one hand, I will examine the stereotypical features of
these characters. On the other hand, my main thesis is that these novellas also
allow anti-racist readings. Cervantes’ and Zayas’ literary slaves are not
helpless victims, but rather characters with dignity, wit, and determination to
achieve their ends. Since these findings are applicable to other texts, I propose
a revision of literature on slavery in the global Hispanic world of the
seventeenth century.