The status of exemplum in cautiverio feliz

Abstract

The repetition of the same narrative formula and the negligible presence of plot allow us to contend that we are facing a text that is equally distanced from exemplum and "novella", and rather closer to the first than to the latter. As a narrative, Cautiverio feliz is closely tied with exemplum because does not stand as an autonomous narrative, but it is strongly tied to deliberative discours, with digressions, to the point in which the author appears more inclined to teaching and exemplarity than to the change of action; it appears in sum to reflect and to comment on what comes out of them. The different narratives of what happened in every visit to the indian chiefs could serve as an example providing and argument which is consequently developed.