“Fuera en París cristiana musulmana aquí fuera” (BNE, MS/18549/5). La religión en la primera traducción al español de la Zaïre de Voltaire

The circulation of French literary models in 18th-century Spain was characterized by a fluctuating combination of receptiveness to foreign dramaturgy and its rejection. Towards the end of the century, nationalist sentiments grew stronger, leading to an increased use of the derogatory term 'afracesados' to refer to Spanish authors who embraced the French tragic model (Urzaiqui 1997; Checa Beltrán 2004). Opposing the advocates of national theater, Voltaire found himself confronted not only by their resistance but also by the Inquisition, which prohibited the sale of all his past and future works in Spanish bookstores (Lafarga 1975). Despite being centered on the conflict between desire and duty, religion and freedom, his tragedy Zaïre, which drew inspiration from the story of the Spanish martyr Saint Zara, remains one of the most widely translated plays by the French playwright in Spain. In this essay, my objective is to analyze the approach taken by the first Spanish translator of the tragedy towards the religious question.