Los «episodios» del Guzmán de Alfarache y del Quijote

Abstract

My aim is to compare the way in which Cervantes and Alemán tackle the problem of how to interpolate episodes or digressions in Don Quijote and Guzmán de Alfarache respectively. My approach is based on the theory and practice of the age, and centers on two main questions: identifying episodic material in the two works, and clarifying the divergent attitudes adopted by the two writers towards the criteria of decorum and relevance. Although they depart from the commonly held assumption of the desirability of variety in any work of considerable length, they reach sharply divergent solutions, destined to have a profound influence on later prose fiction.

Keywords

• Alemán Mateo
• Cervantes Miguel de
• decorum
• digression
• episode
• interpolation