This literary study seeks to understand the contribution of Jewish culture to the formation of modernity. The book interprets change in genres and the literary texts between 1499 and 1627 in close conjunction with the historical situation of that era. This is demonstrated by readings of fundamental literary sources of the period whose features were previously interpreted in terms of a Jewish, ‘New Christian’ or Marrano origin of the authors. The focus is shifted from the belonging of the authors to a text-analytical perspective.>