Abstract
This thesis studies the concept of sic et non (the paradox of systematically acting in a way which contradicts one's beliefs or of simultaneously holding two contradictory beliefs) in the LBA and its cultural milieu, demonstrating how the author and his work reveal themselves to be products of their particular time and place. After setting forth the philosophical foundation of the concept, it goes on to show how sic et non permeates the society, demonstrating how the antagonism between the two-swords--the ecclesiastic and the civil authorities--has a profound effect on the way of life and on the beliefs of the intellectuals and of the ruling classes. Spain is shown to be just as European as the societies which produced Chaucer or Boccaccio. Special attention is devoted to the relations between the sexes, as this is pertinent to the study of the LBA. Sic et non manifests itself in a meaning not always easy to apprehend as well as in a literary form marked by a duality of significants which do not appear to always point to the same signifies. This instability--shifting reality--is a refection of the everyday reality observed by the writers. An analysis of that reality should explain the simultaneous preaching of been amor and appealing presentation of loco amor. The protagonist is not a hypocrite but, rather, one aware of what goes on around him. That awareness determines the form as well as the meaning, even if we cannot agree about what the latter is. In order for the audience to capture the subtleties of which the author warns (LBA 1988 65, 67, 68, 70), it, too, must share this awareness. Whether or not we identify him with the author, the protagonist is the conscious artist who values his art for its own sake.
Hinton, Melvin (1999). Sic et non en el Libro de buen amor. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1999 -THESIS -H58.