How is this text self-conscious as a narrative? What do you make of references to publication of Don Quixote's adventures by Cide Hamete? Why repeatedly refer to Hamete's version of the story? What is the author saying about storytelling in general?

[Ebookwormy1]

PLEASE NOTE: This discussion thread was taken from columbia.edu Discussion Questions for Don Quixote, though it was edited to fit in the goodreads format (less than 256 characters).

[Ebookwormy1]

I think a lot of what Cervantes is doing here ties in with the themes on the benefits and dangers of excessive reading.

He is illustrating that:

1) When a work claims non-fiction status, that is not necessarily true (this makes me think of Alex Haley's ROOTS);
2) When an author strives for non-fiction status, real life people have the ability to talk back (Don Quixote doesn't like his presentation) and modify reality to suit their desires (Panza's deceptions, and Don Quixote's desire to be presented in a chivalric light), making a true record of actual happenings difficult even when historical persons and facts are available.
3) The author himself in either fiction or non-fiction work has a tremendous latitude to both create, report and embellish his subject matter to suit his own proclivities and obligations (such as to the Prince referenced as his sponsor).
4) Fiction tends to absorb reality as a basis for story (such as the relationship between Cervantes and his sponsor or the biographical references that creep into the soldier stories in the first part of the book - a common occurrence in many works), even as non-fiction absorbs fantasy at the whim of those who participated in it's creation.