SPAN 30100 - Cervantes: Don Quixote

An in-depth study of Don Quixote as the beginning of the modern novel in the western world. Discussion of the inherent national values of Cervantes’s masterpiece and its intrinsic universal appeal. Study of the structure, motives, and motifs of the novel, Cervantes’s narrative technique, point of view in the novel, the themes of self-conscious literature and metafiction, Don Quixote’s heroism and folly, and the ‘quixotic principle’ and its impact on the evolution of western narrative tradition. Introduction to the research methods for the study of Hispanic literature and culture.