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Abstract:
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The present study examines the rape episodes in Muslim and Christian historiography of the Iberian Peninsula between 9th and 13th century . These episodes possess a structure which the author defines as “rape tale .” The rape tale has a stock cast of characters—a rapist ruler , the female rape victim , and her avenging guardian , and a predictable ending : the ruler will be deposed . In the works studied in this dissertation , every version of the rape tales is part of a discourse that legitimates an occupation , an invasion , a conquest . The stable structure of the rape tale may reveal its mythic origins . It is possible that before these stories were put into writing , they were elaborated orally . The importance of these allegorical tales requires the necessity of memorization by means of oral repetition , which is possible only through a paring down of details in order to obtain a clear pattern . The images , the actions , must be formulaic in order to be recovered effectively . Characters—no matter their historicity—are simplified into types . Hence in all myths , heroes are brave and strong ; princesses in distress are beautiful ; tyrannical rulers , lustful . The myth studied here appears in chronicles and national /ethnic histories written by a community that saw itself as the winning character in a story of conquest—or Reconquest . It is a myth that features not one but two rape tales : the rape of Oliba (also known as Cava ) , daughter of Count Julian , which brought about the Moorish invasion of Spain , and the rape of Luzencia , which signaled a Christian rebirth with Pelayo’s rebellion . |