Literature as Skeptical Inquiry: How Shock in Don Quixote Teaches Us to Doubt

What can Don Quixote teach us about skepticism and shock?

In her talk, Delehanty draws from her recent book, Disenchantment, Skepticism, and the Early Modern Novel in Spain and France. She argues that early modern novels encourage readers to take a critical stance toward accepted beliefs, through content that stages multiple encounters with the shockingly unfamiliar as well as through experiments in literary form, especially the interpolated story. At its broadest reach, this study asserts the fundamental value of literature as a means of encouraging discernment, recognizing the illusory, and honing critical acuity.

Speaker: Ann Delehanty, Reed College, Portland, OR