Quixote against himself

Abstract

As is well-known, the identity of Don Quixote, both uprooted and fixed in his physical appearance, although he is one of the literary characters for whom we have a clear image, is posited from the possibility of doubt as to who became him, and of who remains in his own reality; an uncertain identity that arises from the very question of who must bear his narrative mask, in a clear allusion to the action of a reader who must read the novel as one who walks while garbed in his knightly dress. This is a character who is at least triply postulated in the sands of uncertainty in which he was born, together with the modern novel: the Arabic manuscript that provides the proto-origins of the work; Alonso Quijano, whom the author questions, but who is to become Don Quixote. The second part deals with those who will recognize him in the adventures he experiences, accompanied by the action of recognizing them as such. The study also refers to some of the “transformations” and testimonial journeys of the main character of Cervantes’ novel that have drawn the attention of critics.