Schedule Notes: Begins Wednesday, 9/27/2023 9:30-11:30 AM Runs 10 weeks
Location: Zoom
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this seminar is to introduce seminar participants to one of the great works of Western literature. No research is required – conversation among the seminar participants is fine, as is reading some passages aloud in class.
DESCRIPTION:
DON QUIXOTE has been called the first modern novel, a work in which fiction and reality are inseparable. In translator Edith Grossman’s opinion, “Cervantes’s writing is a marvel: It gives off sparks and flows like honey. [His} style is so artful it seems absolutely natural and inevitable; his irony is sweet-natured, his sensibility sophisticated, compassionate and humorous.” (xx) I sincerely hope you will not be put off by the length of the text – it is so
worth the effort.
ROLE OF PARTICIPANTS: Since this is a long and complex book, you will need to do no outside reading unless you wish to. We will be covering some 60 pages of text per session, with two people leading the discussion.
RESOURCES:
We will use Edith Grossman’s translation (Please do not use any other, as our page assignments will not line up.)
ABOUT THE MODERATOR: I was a Professor of Spanish at UMass for 34 years and have also taught and been in administration at Mt. Holyoke and Amherst Colleges. I have moderated this seminar twice before.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
DON QUIXOTE has been called the first modern novel, a work in which fiction and reality are inseparable. In translator Edith Grossman’s opinion, “Cervantes’s writing is a marvel: it gives off sparks and flows like honey. [His] style is so artful it seems absolutely natural and inevitable; his irony is sweet-natured, his sensibility sophisticated, compassionate and humorous.” (xx) I sincerely hope you will not be put off by the length of the text – it is so worth the effort.
Since this is a long and complex book, you need to do no outside reading unless you wish to. We will be covering some 60 pages of the text per session, with two people leading the discussion.
We will use Edith Grossman’s translation (please do not use any other, as our page assignments will not line up.)
