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Cervantes' Don Quixote
Open Yale Courses
Platform
· New Haven, USA
About this course
This Yale College course offers a close reading of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote within the artistic and historical context of Renaissance and Baroque Spain. Students examine the novel alongside Cervantes’ Exemplary Stories, the critical volume Cervantes' Don Quixote: A Casebook, and J.H. Elliott’s Imperial Spain, as well as paintings by Velázquez. The course explores narrative form, genre, history, and visual culture, and continually addresses why Don Quixote is still read today. Students are expected to master the primary text, background readings, and lecture and discussion materials; the course may be taken in English or used to fulfill a Spanish-language requirement.
Prerequisite Skills
Skills you should have before taking this course
advanced academic reading
Basic literary theory
Intermediate Spanish language
Skills Gained
Skills you will develop by completing this course
Close reading
literary analysis
comparative literature
Spanish literature
Renaissance and Baroque cultural history
Critical reading of narrative fiction
Spanish language reading
Art and literature interpretation