Tall Tales for a Mass Audience: Dutch Penny Prints and Spanish Aleluyas in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

In this article we compare Dutch penny prints with Spanish Aleluyas, focusing on three specific functions of this premodern mass medium: popularising and adapting theatre plays; standardising (folk/fairy) tales; adapting and popularising literary classics. Via these functions we address the discrepancies between the two countries considering the materiality of the penny prints, the growth of the production, but also the transition from a predominantly religious, towards a more profane content. Striking was the lack of educative and edifying initiatives in Spain in contrast to the Dutch ideological strategies. We observed some interesting similarities as well. Although in both countries penny prints often conformed to current ideologies and institutions, there were instances in which penny prints and aleluyas were used as instruments of social satire or resistance. A few similar strange twists in the adaptations of literary classics, seem to suggest some form of transnational exchange or at least imitation.