Intersecting Frames of Legibility in Conversion de Piritu (1690): A Remodeling of Paratexts in the Digital Setting

Abstract

In this chapter Roxana Sarion examines the understudied Spanish colonial missionary text Conversion de Piritu (1690) by Matías Ruiz Blanco to demonstrate how it has been able to convey different cultural messages over time due to its changing material and visual forms, which becomes particularly prominent in the digital age. The change from the printed format to the digital adds new cultural dimensions and layers of legibility to Ruiz Blanco’s text, enhancing its meaning-making capacity. Looking at various materializations of the text, Sarion explores how different frames of legibility – specifically in the form of paratexts – intersect and elaborates on the way the digitalization process challenges our “bookish habits” and promotes the exchange of knowledge in interactive networks.