Readings of Don Quixote and Practical Narratives in Carlos Fuentes' Work

Abstract

It is well known that Carlos Fuentes used to read the masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes, at least once a year. The result of this timely and decisive encounter with Cervantes' Don Quixote, was not only the essay expressly written for such a purpose by the Mexican novelist, Cervantes o la crítica de la lectura (1976), but also, it is worth mentioning the fruitful relationship that such an influence created in the overall context of Fuentes´ work: Terra nostra, Valiente mundo nuevo o En esto creo. Furthermore, all the citations that Fuentes makes about scholars and theorists specialized in Don Quixote represent a rich source of theoretical research that has not been sufficiently discussed by the critics.  Under this framework, this essay attempts to share certain reflections on the aesthetic and ideological aspects of the Fuentes´ production, aiming to better understand Cervantes´ influence on the work of a Mexican novelist, who became a great promoter of Cervantes' dissemination among the latest generation of Mexican writers.