Picaresque Fiction: An Introduction, with Pilar V. Rotella
Picaresque Fiction: An Introduction, with Pilar V. Rotella
February 21, 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.
- Anonymous, Lazarillo de Tormes – available in paperback from Amazon and other booksellers
- 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
- Feb. 21 Candide, chs. 1-20, 28-30