The Knight of La Mancha in Communist Romania: Don Quixote in the Twentieth Century Propagandistic Childrenʼs Literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/anacervantinos.2025.617Keywords:
Don Quixote, Romania, Youth Magazine, Cravata Roșie, Communist Propaganda, Ideology, Censorship, Pioneers, Nationalism, D’Artagnan, Short Story, Literary RepresentationAbstract
This study explores the reinterpretation of Don Quixote in communist Romania, focusing on An Evening with Unexpected Guests, a short story published in the 1960s in Cravata Roșie magazine. Aimed at shaping the political consciousness of young readers, Cravata Roșie both reflected the country’s evolving ideological landscape and featured overtly propagandistic literature. Don Quixote’s unexpected appearance in this context is investigated, highlighting how the character was ideologically reimagined and the unique symbolic role he came to embody. Furthermore, the communist censorship system is also considered as a dynamic mechanism of control, detailing its structure, arbitrariness, and profound impact on literary and journalistic production. This research contributes to a broader understanding of literature for young people under totalitarian regimes and the propagandistic appropriation of canonical literary figures.
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