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Cervantes’ Don Quixote (SPAN 300)
González Echevarría continues from the end of his last lecture by referring to the self invention and self legitimation of Don Quixote, which is the most innovative aspect of the book. The main character is, as it is suggested in the famous first sentence of the book, beyond family and social determinisms, hence literature appears as a realm for wit and a capacity for invention, breaking with the previous literary tradition and with its predecessors. Perspectivism is expressed in the novel through various linguistic fluctuations, regional differences, and spaces such as the inn, which becomes a key place in the novel by providing an archaeology of society. The first episodes of the Quixote, from the first sally to the first adventure with Sancho, show the gap between literature and reality by probing into Don Quixote’s very particular madness which refuses to recognize and accept social conventions. Cervantes’ literary techniques, such as dialogue, and the presence of his squire blur the differences between fiction and reality, and ultimately question our beliefs and view of the world.
00:00 – Chapter 1. Innovative Features in Don Quixote
10:17 – Chapter 2. Time, Space and Place; Reality into Illusion
24:01 – Chapter 3. Don Quixote’s Particular Madness
37:17 – Chapter 4. The Inquisition of the Library
45:29 – Chapter 5. An Invitation to Blur Fiction and Reality
52:39 – Chapter 6. Sancho Enters the Scene
58:07 – Chapter 7. Windmills: Reality in a State of Flux; The Basque
01:03:02 – Chapter 8. Remarks on Background Readings
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: https://open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Fall 2009.