Disruption, Self-Reflection and Renovation: Revisiting the Arabic Influences in Don Quijote

Abstract

Though the use of verisimilitude in Don Quijote served largely to counter the trend of imaginary settings in the chivalric romances, the question remains why Cervantes chose to emphasize elements of Spain’s Arab-Moorish heritage and to what extent did such heritage motivate his writing? While the most widely acknowledged purpose of Don Quijote was to satirize and terminate the genre of the chivalric romances, Cervantes may have had other aims as well. Despite his ambivalence regarding Arab-Moorish culture, his references to Arabic names, places, and customs, as well as his utilization of various literary techniques of Arabic derivation, likely served to promote both an awareness of Spain’s inherent liminality, and the necessity of adopting a liminal conscience in order to survive—as a nation, a culture, or an individual.