The application of verisimilitude and decorum in Cervantes’ and Avellaneda’s Quixotes

Abstract

This paper analyzes the application of the preceptive premises of deco- rum and verisimilitude in Cervantes’ and Avellaneda ́s Quixotes, with special attention to the ideological resonances in the last one. The analysis is supported by the Horacian Ars, Pinciano’s preceptive, and the Aristotelian background from which these concepts emerge. Besides, as a preliminary context, we will situate the act of imitation as an inherent practice of the literary world in the 17th century and we will also reflect on the historic evolution of the concepts of influence and originality. Finally, we will refer to laugh as an effect of the pragmatics of decorum.