Reading and reality construction in "Don Quijote"

Theresa Marie Rosenhagen, Purdue University

Abstract

Don Quijote is a novel that celebrates the vital importance that reading plays in forming a sense of identity. Characters read and subsequently act upon their readings and transform their identities and realities into unique conceptualizations of the worlds that surround them. A Bakhtinian conceptualization of a dialogized identity juxtaposed with cognitive theories of reading help to explain the power that reading has on the formation of Don Quijote's identity. Don Quijote dialogically interacts with his own renderings (reading schemata) of the text and eventually brings forth the polyphonic retinue of chivalric characters to construct meaning with the outside world with which he tries to communicate. His quest represents his living reading process as he functions in a dialogically formed world which he has helped to create. Don Quijote is a prime example of an individual whose identity originates from the transactive reading process and develops a highly complex, socially constructed identity. As a cognitive construction of identity demonstrates, no individual exists isolated from the contextualized world in which she lives. A dialogic concept of identity enables other characters to wreak havoc with not only Don Quijote's self perception, but also with the reader's interpretation of reality in the text. The essence of Don Quijote is the search for identity in an uncertain world. If identity is considered to be a dialogic relationship among author, narrators, characters, and reader, the concept of reality versus fantasy in the novel becomes more easily understood.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Mancing, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Romance literature

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