Heroic Forms: Cervantes and the Literature of War (Toronto Iberic)

Before 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. Warriors: Epic And Tragedy -- Defenders: Pastoral And Satire -- Captains And Saints: Lyric And Romance -- Soldiers And Sinners: Picaresque. Stephen Rupp. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 233-244) And Index. "Before 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."--Publisher's website Before 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. Amazon.com Cover 1 Contents 10 Acknowledgments 12 Note on Texts and Translations 16 Introduction 20 1 Warriors: Epic and Tragedy 48 2 Defenders: Pastoral and Satire 80 3 Captains and Saints: Lyric and Romance 117 4 Soldiers and Sinners: Picaresque 166 Conclusion 212 Notes 220 Works Cited 250 Index 262