The Answer / La Respuesta by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Nonetheless, a good number of Sorjuanista scholars in literary studies have relatively recently considered rhetorical strategy in the nun’s work, as have academics in other areas. Perhaps this perception (analogously) relates to why projects based in the humanities are relatively infrequent in journals such as this one. By comparison, contemporary applications in the humanities in general, and perhaps in literary studies in particular, may seem uncommon. Of course, many fields in the social science rely on tools such as rhetorical criticism and discourse analysis to explore the contextually significant aspects of language and its use that are relevant to their respective spheres.

Keywords: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, The Answer, (theology of) vocation, rhetoric.Ĭontextualization: “Rhetoric” in an interdisciplinarily accented humanities-based studyĪs the abstract alludes, and in keeping with the emphasis of the publishing journal, one important aspect of this study is the power of rhetorical strategy for itself, and what its use can tell us, in this case either in conjunction with or aside from words. Conclusions thus address what Sor Juana herself could have been saying through, and beyond, her ensuing public silence. Using Sor Juana’s last circulated written work, The Answer, as a point of departure, this study investigates how the rhetorical strategies the nun uses therein point to an affirmation of these central and interrelated things: her theology of the important Christian notion of vocation, and her ultimate right, even as a woman, to study secular material and write. Her peerless literary talent and notable production gave rise to public accolades in her lifetime, even as her singular theological acuity, daringly expressed in public formats, contributed to her eventual apparent silencing at the hands of Church authorities in “New Spain,” who finally bid her cease secular study and writing. Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USAĮ-mail: Since Seventeenth-century Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was rediscovered in the twentieth century, she has been valued as an early advocate for gender equality.

The Answer / La Respuesta by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz