My dissertation, titled Literary Dreamers: From Bernat Metge to Francisco de Quevedo, explores the intersection of culture, religion, and literary theory in the work of two Iberian Peninsular authors: Bernat Metge (Barcelona, ca. 1340/46-1413) and Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas (Madrid, 1580 - Villanueva de los Infantes, 1645). The first chapter of the study analyzes the work of several Catalan and Castilian authors who use the motif of the dream in a specific humanist perspective as a literary genre and a philosophical classical discourse. Chapters two and three outline the cultural and literary landscape of two primary texts: Lo somni (1396- 99) by the Catalan Humanist Bernat Metge, and Los sueños (1627) by the Castilian Baroque Francisco de Quevedo. Both works represent excellent examples of the use of the dream motif from the Medieval to the Baroque period.

As I juxtapose Catalan and Castilian literature, I examine the historical, social, cultural, and ideological perspectives of Catalan Humanism and the Castilian Baroque, two movements that traditionally have not been understood together. Thus, I suggest that Catalan and Castilian texts should be explored in relation to the notion of Christian Humanism, which I understand as a philosophical epistemology linking Christianity and Anthropocentrism. In the context of Humanism and Christianity, the use of the dream motif emerges as both a literary genre and an artistic-philosophical device. To understand the author's strategy, it is crucial to re-examine the extension of Classical, Biblical, and Oriental reminiscences, which helps us analyze the development of dreams in Peninsular literatures.

This dissertation seeks to illuminate the cultural, historical, and literary influences of Catalan and Castilian literatures, which are not always taken into account despite the fact that Catalan Humanism preceded the development of Castilian Humanism since the 14th Century. I will examine how Italian Humanism came to the Iberian Peninsula through the Crown of Aragon's connections to Southern France, Italy, Corsica, and Sardinia. I argue that this cross-pollination of humanisms from the Mediterranean world served as a bridge between the different civilizations and cultures since the time of the Catalan prehumanist Ramon Llull (Palma de Majorca, 1232 - Tunis, 1316). This study proves the existence of Catalan Humanism and its importance for Spanish literature, and will lead to a better understanding of European Humanism.