A Don Quixote in New Orleans: A Confederacy of Dunces / New Orleans’da Bir Don Quijote : A Confederacy of Dunces Romanı

Abstract

Don Quixote had been a pioneering example in world literature to many literary works in different aspects. It had especially been an inspiration to other literary protagonists since its publication. This hero prototype is an idealist person who chases its dreams as opposed to the reactions from the society. He has difficulties in adapting to the world and society he lives in. Hundreds of years later, in a completely different geography, a modern novel resembles this hero prototype which was created by Cervantes. A Confederacy of Dunces is set in 1980s New Orleans. He is a picaro just like Don Quixote, thinking that the “dunces” are in a confederacy against him. In both novels there are many carnivalesque aspects like dualisms of madness versus insanity, reality versus illusion. This way both novels criticize what is normal or not in the society’s expectations. Lastly both novels are examples of grotesque realism. They have unfamiliar outer appearances, exaggerated bodily functions. Moreover they are depicted as looser dreamers in both novels. Therefore A Confederacy of Dunces’s hero can be regarded as a Don Quixote walking in the streets of New Orleans in twentieth century.

Keywords

• Don Quixote
• A Confederacy of Dunces
• picaresque
• carnivalesque