Cervantes' exemplary fictions

The Novelas ejemplares of Cervantes are among the undoubted masterpieces of Renaissance literature, yet their particular appeal, both for their author's contemporaries and for today's readers, has often been misunderstood. Thomas Hart, in his persuasive new analysis, argues for a fresh interpretation of Cervantes' intentions and the novellas' essential significance.

In contrast to the traditional view that the Novelas are divided between "realistic" works and "idealistic" ones, Hart maintains that all of the novellas are meant to elicit admiratio - "surprise" or "wonder." They are poised, he suggests, on the borderline between the notion that fiction should rest on a body of traditional beliefs and a fascination with actions that go counter to accepted norms.

Cervantes offers his readers a world of wonders and in doing so prepares the way for the arbitrariness that marks much twentieth-century fiction. In analyzing the novellas most popular with modern and seventeenth-century readers, Hart places the Novelas in the context of their time, drawing on both Spanish literature and the literatures of France, Italy, and England. His book will appeal not only to Hispanists but to anyone with an interest in Renaissance literature.