Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
Tricky, that one.
Picaresque is a class unto itself and DON QUIJOTE was spoofing earlier romances that aspired to be epics.
Think: BLAZING SADDLES vs 60's Hollywood Westerns.
Cervantes was criticizing the literary (and though them, political) establishment of the day for their out-dated, disconnected tropes.
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And yet
Don Quixote in its greatness transcends mere spoof, not that you're saying it's limited to that. It could stand on its own merits without reference to tired tropes. I still think it works as epic, hero's journey and all that, but I'd agree that picaresque is a special subset of epic and not wholly contained within it, either.
The MR book club is reading
Candide this month, so it's a good time to try to codify my thoughts on the picaresque!