Don Quijote

Catalog description

This course is a graduate seminar and its primary focus is the literary masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha (1605, 1615). Students will analyze the work that has come to be known as the first modern novel of Europe, and, through a close reading of the text, study the novel in relation to the literary traditions of the Renaissance: novella, the pastoral romance, the romance of chivalry, the humanist dialogue, the picaresque novel, including poetry and the comedia. We will give special attention to the historical, social and cultural context of Cervantes' world, and students will gain exposure to the major critical trends and interpretations surrounding his novel. Cervantes confronts readers with the complex social fabric of early modern Spain, and immerses us in the religious and economic realities of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean world. Our close reading of Don Quijote will explore its links to the network of institutions, practices, and beliefs that constituted early modern Spanish culture.