Representations of bandits in mid-nineteenth-century Spain.

Abstract

This article adopts a cultural historical approach to novels and plays about bandits in Spain, developing methods pioneered for other countries and periods, and examines the significance of stories about such famous criminals as Diego Corrientes and Jaime el Barbudo. Although nineteenth-century Spanish bandits superficially resemble Hobsbawm's social bandits, it is argued that these characters were reinvented as vehicles to explore the nature of legitimate government. The significance of these bandit stories as sources depends on an appreciation of their historical resonance and the danger and ambiguity of their association with real crime and the masses.