Freud and Quixote

[dicentra_spectabilis_alba]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Maria <maryblue67 at y...> wrote:
> 
> 
> > Dicentra wrote:
> 
> 
> Speaking of Quixote, I was thinking the other day that he is the
> first
> representation of Fandom in Western literature. Previous to
> Cervantes'
> time, there were no widely available works of art for people to
> obsess
> over.  The chivalric novel had people sitting at their firesides,
> listening to someone read, night after night. They couldn't get
> enough
> of it.  If Quixote were real and alive today, in fact, he'd probably
> be writing posts on this very board.
> 
> 
> Wow, Dicentra, that was a wonderful review of Spanish literature... i
> couldn't have explained it better (mainly, because i haven't touch a
> literature textbook for like 9 years?? :) ). However, on this last
> remark you made, i think i can add something finally (i never get a
> chance to say much in this list of highly qualified HP experts).
> There is another book i would say that had people obsessed with
> before Don Quijote (if you don't mind, i'll use the spanish
> spelling), and it is exactly the book that he was most obsessed with:
> the best of all the chivalry books, called Tirant lo Blanch. This
> book was written in catalan, by Joanot Martorell -from Valencia,
> south of Catalonia -(mostly, completed by a friend after his death),
> in the 1460s. It was soon translated to several languages, it was
> that popular. It describes the adventures of the White Knight ( lo
> Blanch) called Tirant.

Tirante el Blanco. Of course!  And don't forget the Orlando series and
all the rest (don't have El Quijote with me right now).  What I'm
saying is that Don Quijote the character is the first "Trekkie"-type
fan.  He got so into the chivalric novels he started to believe they
were real--histories, not stories. (Spanish uses the same word,
"historia,"  for history and story, which is significant.)  

And I went to Mass in Catalan in Barcelona once (Gothic quarter) and
it was frustrating because I felt like I was just on the verge of
understanding it--I got a few words here and there--but I could never
really get it.  I've also been to Valencia for paella and Lladro.
> 
Great country, Spain. And Catalonia is a really nice area. Orange
trees and stuff.

--Dicentra, who KNOWS Harry Potter is real, duh!