Don Quixote has been widely read and discussed outside Spain. Interpreted before 1800 as a burlesque of chivalric romances, and implicitly described as such by Cervantes himself, it was given a sentimentalised and seriously philosophical interpretation by the German Romantics. Dr Close is essentially concerned with the question why this unhistorical and subjective reading of the novel prevailed, first in Europe, then in Spain. He examines the stages by which, from 1860, it progressively supplanted in Spain the hitherto dominant neo-classical interpretation, and shows how this process kept pace with increasing identification with movements of intellectual history, aesthetics, literary criticism and scholarship in Europe. He clarifies the complex reasons which have led Spaniards to see Don Quixote as a symbol of their cultural history and identity, and reveals how preoccupation with Spain's decadence has coloured the interpretation of the national classic by leading Spanish critics, scholars and philosophers.

Clarifies the complex reasons that led Spaniards to see Don Quixote as a symbol of their cultural history and identity.

Book Information
ISBN 9780521142588
Author Anthony Close
Format Paperback
Page Count 300
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 380g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 17mm