Celebrating a Centuries-Old Literary Tradition: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
By Xánath Caraza
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is the most important historic literary figure from Hispanic America. She was born on November 12, 1651 at 11 p.m. in San Miguel Nepantla, Nueva España or New Spain, present-day Mexico and was named Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez. Years later she would become Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. She died on April 17, 1695 at 4 a.m. in the San Jerónimo Convent in Mexico City at forty-four years of age.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz learnt to read and write in the library of her maternal grandfather in Amecameca in what is today the state of Mexico in Mexico, where she lived there from the ages of three to eight. Due to limitations of traditional gender roles at this time, she needed to hide in order to be able to read as much as she wanted.
Of languages, Sor Juana learnt Latin from listening to her sister’s lessons and also learnt Nahuatl, the language of the Mexica or Aztecs by spending time with indigenous servants at her maternal grandfather’s home.
At the age of eight, she was sent to Mexico City. Subsequently, when she was thirteen, she was accepted for the colonial royal court at the palace of the Viceroy of Nueva España, Antonio Sebastián de Toledo, Marqués de Mancera and his wife, the Vicereine Leonor María Carreto, who became Sor Juana’s sponsor and protector.
Sor Juana joined two different religious orders in her life time. Firstly, on August 14, 1667, she became a member of the Convent of San José in Mexico City run by the Discalced Carmelites. At the age of fifteen and nine months, she left the Discalced Carmelites on November 18, 1667 to return to the royal court. In a couple of years, she would join a different convent in Mexico City.
While with the royal court in 1668, a relevant event in Sor Juana’s life is when she was examined by the most prestigious intellectuals from Nueva España. The Vicereine Leonor María Carreto organized this memorable event at the Palace. Sor Juana was questioned about religion to philosophy and sciences. History says that she successfully answered each one of the questions she was asked.
With regard for her second convent and in 1669, Sor Juana finally entered the Convent of San Jerónimo in Mexico City and became Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz on February 24 at seventeen years of age. She remained there until her death.
It was at this second convent and in her cell where she developed as the most important literary figure of Nueva España and Mexico in the 17th Century. She wrote poetry, drama, music, philosophical essays and conducted research in the sciences. Her personal library was considered the largest library in Colonial America.
Unfortunately, in 1690 she was a victim of the political and misogynistic atmosphere of the time and one of her philosophical essays was published without her permission. The publication of this essay was accompanied by a letter of criticism and addressed to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and signed with a fictional name, Sor Filotea de la Cruz. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz responded on March 1, 1691 with the publication of Contestación de Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz a Sor Filotea de la Cruz. As a woman and religious, she was forced to renounce her library and her few personal objects. Additionally, she was required to ask for forgiveness and to stop writing in 1694.
Later that same year, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’ health became compromised and she died of the plague in Mexico City on April 17, 1695.
Read and listen to the poem dedicated to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz by scholar and writer, Xánath Caraza. Poem available in English and Spanish.
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