Poetry as an Act of History

On September 18, María Rosa Menocal gave an enticing lecture in the Little Theatre. Much of her talk was centered around Cervantes’ stories of Don Quijote de la Mancha. Don Quijote had a distorted view of reality because of his great love for the reality of literary texts. He enjoyed reading about knights because he believed in their truth. After he returns home after his many adventures, his household decides to burn all his books for the sake of his mental health. It was sad to me, though, that a dying Quijote admits that all his adventures were merely stories. He believed so strongly in the chivalry of the knights that it was distressing to see him give up on those dreams.

Although I could not understand the name of the church that was famous to Cervantes and his characters, I thought the pictures on the slideshow were beautiful. The incredible architecture of the Arabic and Latin writings around the windows was inspiring. Some of the windows told a story of medieval Christianity. The speaker’s main point was that literature and poetry are vital to historic memories. They shape the culture and the way people think and view the world.