The Rhetoric of Courtly Love: Culliscacha in La conquista del Perú, by Fray Francisco del Castillo

Zumaeta P.A. · Hipogrifo (2026) · DOI: 10.13035/h.2026.14.01.27

Resumen

Towards the middle of the eighteenth century, commissioned by the guild of the natives of Lima, Fray Francisco del Castillo wrote the comedy La conquista del Perú, on the occasion of the festivities in the City of the Kings for the proclamation of King Fernando VI. Although there are studies on this dramatic text, we lack one that examines the discourse and rhetoric of the three Indian-Galan characters. This article focuses exclusively on the argumentative and dialectical character of Culliscacha. Through the rhetoric of courtly love, the gallant expresses the idealized love he feels for Huacolda, the lady. The purpose of the paper is, in first place, to review how Castillo replicates certain structures inherited from classical and medieval traditions, and, at the same time, adapts them to this particular context. It also seeks to determine in what sense the Creole playwright distances himself from and subverts certain discourses predominant in previous eras.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú