Mirrors of Ink. New Approaches to The Uses of Writing in Cervantes

Abstract

This essay offers an approach to studying the uses and functions of written culture in Golden Age Spain by taking as its central focus the representations of writing in the works of Cervantes, and above all his Don Qujote. It reviews the importance of the spoken and written word in early modern society, daily practices of writing, the means of diffusion and reception of texts, the significance of memory, the effects of printing and, of course, the diverse meanings and modes of reading. It closes with a bibliographic note which locates Cervantes’ world in the context of early modern Spanish written culture.