Representing Imperial Rivalry in the Early Modern Mediterranean explores representations of national, racial, and religious identities within a region dominated by the clash of empires. Bringing together studies of English, Spanish, Italian, and Ottoman literature and cultural artifacts, the volume moves from the broadest issues of representation in the Mediterranean to a case study – early modern England – where the “Mediterranean turn” has radically changed the field.

The essays in this wide-ranging literary and cultural study examine the rhetoric which surrounds imperial competition in this era, ranging from poems commemorating the battle of Lepanto to elaborately adorned maps of contested frontiers. They will be of interest to scholars in fields such as history, comparative literary studies, and religious studies.

‘A fresh contribution to current scholarship on Mediterranean as a conceptual space… The multi-scale analysis reaches the editors’ goal of producing a nuanced and articulated picture of cross-religious interaction in the central-east Mediterranean.’

‘This collection presents a great example of interdisciplinary synergy and verve. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students and scholars alike will benefit from its method and goals.’

‘This volume is a worthwhile read for scholars of early modern empire… Well-researched, well-supported, well-written case studies that offer food for thought and future scholarship.’

Barbara Fuchs is a professor of Spanish and English at UCLA.

Emily Weissbourd is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of English at Bryn Mawr College.