"Pintada de malísima mano": Cervantes's Use of Bad Art to Critique Bad Literature in Don Quixote

• William Worden ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Alabama
• Localización: Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America, ISSN-e 0277-6995, Vol. 42, Nº. 2, 2022, págs. 111-136
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen
  • español

    Tres episodios distintos de la segunda parte del Quijote se refieren a artistas incompetentes y al arte de mala calidad que producen: don Quijote dos veces habla de Orbaneja, el pintor de Úbeda que, según él, era tan torpe que pintaba “lo que saliere”; y en una carta a su esposo, Sancho, Teresa Panza escribe sobre un “pintor de mala mano” que llegó a su pueblo. Este artículo analiza la manera que Cervantes emplea dichas referencias artísticas con dos objetivos: en primer lugar, para opinar sobre la primera parte de la novela y más tarde, para criticar la segunda parte de Avellaneda

  • English

    Given his unbounded faith in the truthfulness of chivalric texts, the mad knight would never doubt or denigrate a book of chivalry; he has no such qualms, however, about criticizing art. The novel's protagonist becomes a knight errant in large part because he trusts the veracity of the books of chivalry that enthrall him.3 These chivalric tales not only provide him great pleasure, they also recount celebrated deeds that in his view actually happened and thereby serve to inspire him as he plans to carry out his own great feats in imitation of his literary heroes. John Weiger points out, for example, that if Don Quixote were present-and not sleeping-during the examination of his books in chapter 6 of the first part of the novel, "he would have dealt with the books' characters, whereas the priest and barber concern themselves with verisimilitude, humor, decorum, style, and other matters related to writing' (106; original emphasis). When discussing this book during their investigation of their neighbor's library, the priest and barber focus on the literary aspects of the work, commenting on its genre and quality.4 For his part, Don Quixote speaks of Amadís de Gaula as his favorite text on a number of occasions, but always with reference to the nature and actions of the book's characters.