Picaresque Fiction: An Introduction, with Pilar V. Rotella

Picaresque Fiction: An Introduction, with Pilar V. Rotella
January 24, 2024 @ 1:00-2:15pm

Picaresque fiction, from its origins in 16th century Spain to the present, has evolved and developed across time and space to constitute a well-established literary genre. In a typical picaresque novel, the pícaro or pícara – a mixture of vagabond, trickster, and swindler, smart and unscrupulous – recounts his or her life story as a tale of survival against all odds in the midst of a hostile society. Viewed at first as merely entertaining, picaresque fiction has undergone a re-evaluation that highlights the complexity and depth of its social and psychological insight. We will read some of the shorter classics that provide a good introduction to this significant, intriguing, and often very amusing genre. Pilar is Professor Emerita at Saint Xavier Univ of Chicago. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at several universities and colleges, has authored numerous scholarly articles. MA, English and PhD Comparative Literature, Univ of Chicago.

Please read the stories below in advance of that week’s session.

Texts:

Anonymous, Lazarillo de Tormes – available in paperback from Amazon and other booksellers

Link Pdf: The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes, by Anonymous

H.J.C. von Grimmelshausen, The Life of Courage - available in paperback from Amazon and other booksellers

Voltaire, Candide – available in paperback from Amazon and other booksellers

Pdf: https://archive.org/stream/candide19942gut/19942.txt

Jan. 24 General introduction. Lazarillo de Tormes – Prologue and chapter 1

Jan. 31 Lazarillo de Tormes

Feb. 7 The Life of Courage, chs. 1-14

Feb. 14 The Life of Courage, chs. 15-27

Feb. 21 Candide