Cervantes, the Journey, and What it Tells Us About Becoming a Writer

Open Cultural Studies

Lania Knight¹ 

关键词: Cervantes;    fiction;    writer’s Journey;    Don Quixote;    empathy;   

DOI  :  10.1515/culture-2017-0036

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: De Gruyter

【 摘 要 】

Abstract The article traces the notion of empathy in fiction writing and how Cervantes’s treatment of characters in Don Quixote initiated a tradition which is ongoing in literature even today. The path of the writer is examined as a means for understanding how a writer must develop empathy for others, beginning with quotes from writers Helene Cixous and Henry James. Next, within the current political context of global upheaval and shift following on from the election of Donald Trump as president of the U.S.A. as well as the vote for Brexit in the U.K., the article argues for the relevance of Cervantes’s novel, not as a dated work of fiction, but as a text relevant both in form and in content for the modern political climate. Finally, the connection is made between fiction writers’ ability to feel empathy for others and create characters which readers will feel empathy for. The article follows on to proclaim the revolutionary and timely role of the fiction writer to help save us from ourselves in a tumultuous political landscape made unpredictable by social media-generated confirmation bias and insularity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND