Ana M.A. Rueda

Maria Josefa Amalia de Sajonia (Dresden 1803–Aranjuez 1829)—the first queen in constitutional Spain’s history to possess an unedited literary corpus—remains unknown today. Her writings were intentionally anonymous for fear of exacerbating the intense political upheaval during her reign alongside Ferdinand VII (1819–1829). Nevertheless, her role in diplomacy, policy and propaganda positioned her at the center of political and religious disputes that enabled her to exert influence on the Crown, refashioning enlightened despotism and revitalizing the novel as a genre. This recovery research project will produce a comprehensive scholarly critical edition of the queen’s narrative works: “Cartas de la Reina Witinia a su hermana Fernandina” (1822) and “Francisca y Julia en Turquía” (1828).