In this dissertation, I analyze literary texts deemed as obscene and the inquisitorial documentation against them in transatlantic Spain during the early modern period, in order to argue that obscenity and censorship are two sides of the same coin. Contrary to popular belief, obscenity does not always challenge hegemony. Rather, it often reinforces repression and intolerance. Conversely, censorship reproduces the same obscenity that it condemns by publicizing it and mirroring the sexual excitement of obscene discourse. By examining works written by Luis de Góngora, Francisco de Quevedo, Nicolás Fernández de Moratín, Félix María de Samaniego, Leandro Fernández de Moratín, Tomás de Iriarte, Juan Meléndez Valdés, as well as anonymous texts and Mexican folksongs such as "Chuchumbé" and "Jarabe gatuno" I identify how femaleness, sexual deviance, blackness, and social class have played a major role in the qualification of the obscene.
