Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2013 The Rhetorical Strategies of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza David T. Tarvin Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Tarvin, David T., "The Rhetorical Strategies of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza" (2013). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1366. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1366 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. THE RHETORIC OF DON QUIXOTE AND THE SOPHISTICATION OF SANCHO PANZA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Communication Studies by David Tarvin B.A. Morehead State University, 2005 M.A. Morehead State University, 2008 December 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ideal reader: Without my swearing to it, you can believe that I would like this dissertation, the child of my research, to be the most beautiful, the most brilliant, and the most discreet that anyone could imagine.1 I wanted only to offer it to you plain and bare, unadorned by acknowledgements or endless dedications and laudatory praises that are usually placed at the beginning of such dissertations. For, how do I thank everyone that has helped me through this process? Not knowing how to thank, for instance, my roommate Ben McCoy, who without I would have never been able to persevere through the difficult journey. Bribing me to write at times, acting as a wall to bounce off ideas at other times, his encouragement and assistance surely should not go unnoticed! Nor should the love and support my other roommate provided; for, Kelsey Lato’s beauty served as a prose, much like Dulcinea for Don Quixote. But believing the acknowledgments would drag on for days, I decided I would not include any dedications, well, besides the two already mentioned. Seeing my despair at deliberating over the acknowledgement section, a colleague approached and asked, “Why the troubled face, my friend?” Unfortunately, I do not recall if it was Bryan Moe, Ryan McGeough, Ari Gratch, or Benjamin Haas. All of them have been known to give me such great advice. Regardless of who it was, I told him of my deliberation and final decision not to include any acknowledgments in this here dissertation. On hearing this, my colleague clapped his hand to his forehead, burst into laughter, and said: “By God, brother, now I am disabused of an illusion I have lived with for the past four years I have known you, for I always considered you perceptive and prudent in everything you 1 The Acknowledgments are imitative of Cervantes’ Prologue in Don Quixote ii do. Tell me, do you not recall Dewey: No rules, then no game; different rules, then a different game?2 Are you not writing a dissertation? Should you not follow the rules or else it is a different game? As for praising everyone that was the source of your inspiration and perseverance, do not fear, for if you forget to name someone, you can turn right to the Andy King scripture, which you can do with a minimum effort, and say the words of Burke himself: The progress of human enlightenment can go no further than in picturing people not as vicious, but as mistaken.3 And with this little quotation and others like it, people will think you are a doctoral candidate; being one is no small honor and advantage these days. Furthermore, what about Rya Butterfield, Danielle McGeough, Raquel Polanco, Sarah Jackson, and Laura Croswell? Was Rya not the inspiration for you coming to Louisiana State University in the first place? Did she not threaten to pee in your fedora if you refused to attend? Did Danielle’s research on toilets not provide you endless hours of comedic conversations? And, Raquel, whose compassion and laughter provides the essence of friendship, will you not mention her? Or the best neighbor, Sarah, whose pranks kept you constantly on your toes? And what about Laura’s spastic paranoia that made you feel better about your own work? Of course you must at least acknowledge and praise their support!” “Tell me,” I replied, listening to what he was saying. “How do you intend I acknowledge and praise my mentors and my family?” To which he replied: 2 Dewey, John (1938). Experience & Education. New York: Touchstone. (71) 3 Burke, Kenneth. (1984). Attitudes Towards History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. (42) iii “First, the question of family is easy. You should thank your mother, LuAnn, and father, Ted, for simply everything. They have always been, and will continue to be, your number one fan. Your brother Adam, who has been your role model for both working hard and living easy, deserves an entire chapter dedicated to him. And as for your brother, Drew? Who could have asked for a better best friend? His humor has not only helped in difficult times, but has also inspired your own research interest in comedy. You must not only acknowledge the role your family has in your success, but also dedicate your dissertation to them. Second, to solve the question of your mentors, you should acknowledge all of the support the LSU Department of Communication Studies has provided you: from Donna Sparks, the compassionate animal lover, and Lisa Landry, the Harley-riding hipster, to Andy King, the noble sage of communication himself. There’s also of course, Stephanie Grey to thank, for we learned quite a bit about trauma and public cultures in her classes. And didn’t you take a class with Anna Nardo in the English Department? Acknowledge Dr. Nardo for her role in introducing you to the classics like Orlando Furioso and the Faerie Queene which had influenced Cervantes’ own work. Furthermore, you could never forget to acknowledge your Masters’ adviser, what is his name?” “Robert Frank,” I replied, “He is the reason I am where I am today. He not only inspired me to do my best, but also is the person I want to be when I grow up.” “Great, then make sure not to forget to thank him in your acknowledgements too. Now, with regards to your doctoral adviser, Nathan Crick, you must praise and thank him excessively. After all, he is the Don Quixote to your Sancho Panza. While, I realize you could never truly thank him for everything he does, both for you and the rest of us graduate students, you must iv try. Remember to thank him for his summer book clubs, his door always being open, his ruthless, yet appropriate remarks, and his stubborn, yet idealistic dream that you could finish. Perhaps, you could use the Don Quixote quotation, ‘We have come to the Church, brother Sancho,’ to express your gratitude in completing your dissertation. In short, keep your eye on the goal of acknowledging your support, and you will do fine.” In deep silence I listened to what my colleague told me, and his words made so great an impression on me that I did not dispute them but acknowledged their merit and wanted to use them to write the acknowledgements to my dissertation in which you will see, gentle reader, the cleverness of my colleague, my good fortune in finding the adviser I needed, and your own relief at finding so sincere and uncomplicated a research as that of this dissertation. And having said this, may you enjoy reading in good health and with a constant smile. Vale. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.................................................................................................... 16 JUSTIFICATION ................................................................................................................ 18 CHAPTER OUTLINES ........................................................................................................ 21 CHAPTER ONE: THE RHETORICAL BACKGROUND FOR DON QUIXOTE ...................................... 24 CERVANTES’ BIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ 27 A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPAIN ............................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER TWO: THE RHETORICAL EXIGENCES OF CERVANTES’ SPAIN ...................................... 51 GENDER INEQUALITIES ................................................................................................... 57 CLASS ISSUES ................................................................................................................... 70 ACCESS TO EDUCATION .................................................................................................. 82 RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS .................................................................................................... 92 EMERGING NATIONALISM ...........................................................................................