By the end of this week, you will have read through the first seven chapters of part two of Don Quixote. In real life, Cervantes hurried to publish part two of his novel, which finally he did in 1615 (ten years after part one first appeared in print) after learning that there was a “fake” (apocryphal) version of part two published and disseminated throughout Europe; blatant plagiarism, but at the time there was no recall for such matters. We know historically that another writer by the name of Avellaneda wrote this false sequel to Cervantes’s famous story to take advantage of the huge success of the Don Quixote novel. Today we call this plagiarism and people would be sued but in the seventeenth century people could get away with this sort of thing; they were just beginning to understand what is today our modern way of thinking about personal artistic property. (During the early Middle Ages, literature was orally transmitted and it was anonymous, for the most part. But for Cervantes, in the early seventeenth century, this was the heyday of the modern print industry [please note that Gutenberg’s printing press was invented in the fifteenth century] and Cervantes wanted, desperately needed, to reap a financial share of its growing profits.) So this false sequel not only motivated Cervantes to hurry and publish his legitimate part two, but it also inspired him to mention and even reference the false part two by Avellaneda in his very own fictional tale of the famous knight-errant Don Quixote. You can see how Cervantes skillfully created literature/fiction from a very real set of circumstances, in this way blurring the line between fiction and the historical realities of his own life. This is a fine example of Cervantes use of metafiction and self-referentiality. Another self-referential aspect is how the characters in these initial chapters of part two of the novel discuss the inconsistencies and errors that appear in part one of the original published novel: 1.) the appearance and disappearance of Sancho’s donkey, 2.) Sampson Carrasco, the university student (just like you guys!), who discusses the inconsistencies of the author or the printer of part one, 3.) the fact that Cervantes’s part two picks up just one month, not years, after the end of part one which was published ten years earlier.
In sum, it’s all trickery and playfulness by Cervantes; imagine, here he was probably really angry that someone had stolen his idea (these marvelous characters that he had created) and he was going to get his revenge by making Avellaneda’s fake part two part of his fiction and storytelling. FABULOUS!!! INGENIOUS!!! Indeed, so very modern for a writer in the seventeen century.
For assignment #5 write a short essay, 2-3 pages, on the notion of authorship, a topic that plays a significant role in part two of Don Quixote. Think of these questions before you write your essay: What is the role of an author? What does an author do? What does an author create? Authors create both fiction and non-fiction; is one more truthful than the other? This idea of authorship sheds light on the very conflict between the imaginary world and the real world of this novel, a conflict embodied in the main character of the novel: Don Quixote.
Finally, think about this carefully as you prepare to write your essay: when Don Quixote (a fictional, made-up character invented by Cervantes) expresses in these first few chapters of part two his “concern” for the accuracy of what took place in part one of the novel, he is actually “doubting” the accuracy of his own story. Clearly, Cervantes takes delight in blurring fact and fiction.
