Description
Book SynopsisBefore he was a writer, Miguel de Cervantes was a soldier. Enlisting in the Spanish infantry in 1570, he fought at the battle of Lepanto, was seized at sea and held captive by Algerian corsairs, and returned to Spain with a deep knowledge of military life. He understood the costs of heroism, the fragility of fame, and the power of the military culture of brotherhood.
In Heroic Forms, Stephen Rupp connects Cervantes’s complex and inventive approach to literary genre and his many representations of early modern warfare. Examining Cervantes’s plays and poetry as well as his prose, Rupp demonstrates how Cervantes’s works express his perceptions of military life and how Cervantes interpreted the experience of war through the genres of the era: epic, tragedy, pastoral, romance, and picaresque fiction.
Trade Review'Rupp's book is original, thought provoking, and will make a significant contribution to the criticism of Cervantes's literature on the topic of war and heroism.' -- Eduardo Olid Guerrero Hispania vol 99:02:2016 'Rupp's book is a very solid, innovative, and intriguing study of Cervantes's contributions to advances in genre development through the lens of a specific and very relevant topic that proves quite elucidating.' -- Susan Byrne Renaissance Quarterly vol 69:01:2016 'A superb contribution to early modern Spanish studies... Rupp's approach offers rich, thought-provoking, unique perspectives... Highly recommended.' -- E.H. Friedman Choice vol 52:08:2015
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Texts and Translations Introduction 1 Warriors: Epic and Tragedy 2 Defenders: Pastoral and Satire 3 Captains and Saints: Lyric and Romance 4 Soldiers and Sinners: Picaresque Conclusion Notes Works Cited Index
