Copyright by Nika Šetek 2018
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Copyright by Nika Šetek 2018 The Dissertation Committee for Nika Šetek Certifies that this is the approved version of the following Dissertation: Utopic / Dystopic Mirroring: The Romance and the Picaresque in the Spanish and Russian Traditions Committee: Michael Harney, Supervisor Thomas Garza, Co-Supervisor Madeline Sutherland-Meier Cory Reed Utopic / Dystopic Mirroring: The Romance and the Picaresque in the Spanish and Russian Traditions by Nika Šetek Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin December 2018 Dedication To Rob, my favorite person Acknowledgements It is a pleasure to finally give formal thanks to my dissertation advisors and the members of my committee. Their guidance and support have been invaluable, not only while I worked on this project, but throughout my career at the University of Texas at Austin. Michael Harney has had an undeniable influence on my scholarship, and I am forever thankful for the many hours of conversation, as well as the feedback and encouragement I have received from him over the years. Thomas Garza’s infectious love for all things Russian led me to Russian literature, and without his positivity and his unwavering belief in me, this project would never have happened. Throughout the years, Madeline Sutherland-Meier and Cory Reed were incredibly generous with their advice and with their time, leading me to new ideas and perspectives, and making me feel welcome in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. I am very grateful to the Program in Comparative Literature, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies, and the Graduate School for supporting my work throughout the years with fellowships and with teaching appointments. Having time to focus solely on my research was a true gift, and the experience that I gained from teaching in different departments was invaluable. I also want to especially thank the incredible Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, whose brilliance and leadership leave me in awe. I could not have achieved any of this without the love and support of my family. I am grateful to parents, Jadranka and Željko Šetek, and to my sister Lina Šetek-Patkò, for never having one moment of doubt, even when I doubted myself. I also have to thank my v husband, Rob Dickmeyer, who has been a pillar of strength, and a constant source of joy. Without them, I truly would not be where I am today. Finally, I am incredibly lucky to have such wonderful friends and colleagues as Sarah Kroh, Tim Kroh, Eva Singer, Raelene Wyse, Sam Ginsburg, Jacob Trevino, Spencer Borschke, Joanna Wu, Daniela Radpay, Olga Eksimova, and many others. I never felt alone or lonely throughout my graduate experience, and I am so thankful for the community that we have formed here in Austin. I also want to thank my dear friends Laura Hartmann and Laurence Béal, who have kept me going and laughing for years. vi Abstract Utopic / Dystopic Mirroring: The Romance and the Picaresque in the Spanish and Russian Traditions Nika Šetek, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2018 Supervisor: Michael Harney Co-Supervisor: Thomas Garza This dissertation explores the relationship between the romance and the picaresque and their mirroring structures of correlated utopianism/dystopianism through the Spanish and Russian traditions. The romance and the picaresque are related modes: while the romance is a utopic vision of life as a quest, the picaresque is its carnivalesque inversion. The two modes are mirror images of each other, and while the romance is predominantly utopic, the picaresque is primarily dystopic. I argue that, in addition to a dominant utopianism/dystopianism, each of these modes contain recessive undertones – dystopic in the romance, and utopic in the picaresque – which are indispensable to their structure. I trace this pattern of utopianism/dystopianism through different types of romance and picaresque texts, beginning with the most popular Spanish chivalric romance, Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s 16th century Amadís de Gaula, in which the dominant utopianism is accompanied by numerous dystopic disruptions, which are necessary to vii move the plot forward, but which showcase the futility of the knight’s efforts. Similarly, in the Russian socialist romance, such as Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s 1863 novel Что делать? (What Is to Be Done?), the dystopic undertone is a necessary motivation for the achievement of a revolutionary utopia. I further show that, through a carnivalesque inversion, the picaresque creates a contrasting structure in which recessive utopianism underlies the dominant dystopianism. In the Early Modern Spanish picaresque texts, such as the anonymous Lazarillo de Tormes (1554), Mateo Alemán’s Guzmán de Alfarache (1599) and Francisco de Quevedo’s El buscón (The Swindler, 1626), the pícaro is moved by a belief that he can rise above his birth and circumstances, disrupting the strict hierarchy that the chivalric romance promotes. In Venedikt Erofeev’s Москва - Петушки (Moscow to the End of the Line, 1970), the Soviet pícaro believes in a personal paradise that exists just out of reach, in which he could be free from restrictions of life in the USSR. My analysis of these texts is primarily informed by Northtrop Frye’s work on the romance, particularly The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance, and Mikhail Bakhtin’s writing on carnival and the carnivalesque. viii Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: The Interplay of Utopia and Dystopia in the Spanish Chivalric Romance ................................................................................................................. 24 CHIVALRY, KNIGHTHOOD AND NOBILITY ................................................ 27 PERSONAL MERIT ............................................................................................ 31 Heredity and Merit ................................................................................... 32 Marital Meritocracy .................................................................................. 33 Material Gains .......................................................................................... 37 FRANCHISING UTOPIA.................................................................................... 40 SPACE AND UTOPIA ........................................................................................ 43 Errantry .................................................................................................... 46 Insola Firme ............................................................................................. 48 Naming a Utopia .............................................................................. 49 Colonial Utopianism ........................................................................ 50 Utopic Diversions ............................................................................ 53 Utopia Found? ................................................................................. 55 SELF-FASHIONING ........................................................................................... 62 The Hero’s Alter Egos .............................................................................. 63 Limits of Utopia ....................................................................................... 67 CHAPTER CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 70 Chapter Two: The Spanish Picaresque as a Carnivalesque Dystopia .............................. 74 THE PICARESQUE AS A CARNIVALESQUE MODE ..................................... 77 ix PICARESQUE AS A CARNIVALESQUE DYSTOPIA ...................................... 86 Space in the Picaresque............................................................................. 87 Corruption and Authority .......................................................................... 92 The Shadow of the Inquisition .......................................................... 97 UTOPIA IN THE PICARESQUE .......................................................................106 Utopian Desire.........................................................................................106 The Presentation of Self in the Picaresque ...............................................109 Narrator’s Self-Fashioning ..............................................................113 THE PRINCE AND THE PÍCARO.....................................................................121 CHAPTER CONCLUSION ................................................................................129 Chapter Three: A Socialist Romance Scorned: What Is to Be Done? and Its Detractors 132 WHAT IS TO BE DONE AS A ROMANCE ......................................................135 Rational Egoism and the Chivalric Ethos .................................................139 A Revolutionary Quest ............................................................................145 Utopia in What Is to Be Done? ................................................................151 Utopic Space ...........................................................................................151 Utopic Time ....................................................................................155 Utopic Lifestyle ..............................................................................156