Description:
Miguel de Cervantes, writer of Don Quixote, has frequently been portrayed in fictionalized contexts across various mediums. In A Character Named Cervantes, Howard Mancing and Tatevik Gyulamiryan explore how Cervantes's life is depicted in biographies and fiction and how he, as a (bio)fictional character, contributes to our understanding of reality and fiction, fact and invention, history and imagination, and above all, our perceptions of these concepts.
The book reveals that Cervantes's life was unlike anyone else's. Characterized by an array of extraordinary experiences - both triumphant and tumultuous, adventurous and misfortunate, impassioned and disillusioned - his life events mirror the quixotic spirit he famously imbued in his iconic character. Despite the wealth of documented events, a lot about Cervantes remains uncovered, which allows for human imagination, interpretation, and creation to intervene, attempting to provide a more comprehensive biography. The book highlights how Cervantes's life has inspired multiple interpretations and recreations by historians, biographers, and novelists alike. It emphasizes the crucial role of human imagination in the crafting of biographies, particularly within literary and scholarly traditions. Ultimately, A Character Named Cervantes examines Cervantes through the dual lenses of fiction and fictionalized history.
Review Quotes: "A Character Named Cervantes presents a diverse collection of academic essays, each well-written, carefully edited, and grounded in foundational scholarship. This volume successfully documents the many fictional representations of Cervantes as a character, analysing several of these in critical detail, and demonstrating the fundamental importance of Cervantes's influence on seemingly endless genres of literary fiction and media, across time, and in countries throughout the world. There is no comparable book on the market that investigates Cervantes as a character in this way, and the pervasiveness of Cervantine representations offers readers astounding revelations, inviting a delightful process of discovery with each successive essay."--Cory A. Reed, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of Texas at Austin
"In A Character Named Cervantes, the contributors are thoughtfully coordinated, demonstrating a deep knowledge of their respective topics within the framework of Cervantes research, supported by a current and relevant bibliography. Howard Mancing, a highly regarded researcher on Cervantes, imparts his distinct seal and style throughout the volume. This collection serves as a significant resource for cervantists - especially those focused on Cervantes's life and work - as well as researchers of the Spanish Golden Age, making a major contribution to the field."--Santiago A. López Navia, Professor of Spanish Philology, Universidad Internacional de La Rioja