WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO
Why Cervantes Now?
Professor of Spanish Literature, Director of the Humanities Institute and Co-director of the Center for Information Integrity at SUNY Buffalo
“We are stories, the stories we believe, the stories we live by, the stories we fear… Cervantes urges us to examine closely, discerningly (de espacio) our stories (their content and their form, their mechanics), but also to imagine new, original storylines, and novel ways of storytelling. If we think of Cervantes as a writer deeply concerned with the emerging mass-media of his time and its effect on its consumers, spectators or users, couldn’t we/shouldn’t we read him against the grain of our own mass-culture and claim him as an ally, a historical partner, as we try to figure out how to survive this age of media saturation and disinformation? “
Associate Professor, Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center
“Don Quixote is a very funny book, as are many of Cervantes’ other writings. From across the centuries, his booming laughter is another powerful weapon he bequeathed us, this time to point at those who not only lie to us, but brainwash us into deceiving ourselves. In its gentler echoes, his laughter teaches us not to take ourselves too seriously, either. Alongside this mockery of the world as it is, his texts parade before the reader a seemingly endless array of characters, with Quixote in the lead, who refuse to accept the hand they were dealt. They write their own lives, reinvent their identities. The suggestion seems to be that we might do the same. Between his mocking/healing laughter and inexhaustible optimism, Cervantes fortifies us for the struggle not just to survive, but in whatever small way we can to change things for the better.”
Decker Professor in the Humanities. Mellon Professor in the Humanities. Director, Alexander Grass Humanities Institute, Johns Hopkins University
“Like us, Cervantes lived in a world saturated by media, even if his were driven by different technologies. Like in ours, those who dominated the media in his world were capable of manipulating people’s perception of the reality they inhabited. Unlike too many of us, Cervantes discovered a way to dispel the power of that manipulation. He realized that using stories to explore how characters try, and often fail, to navigate the pitfalls of belief was a better, more effective defense against such manipulation than simply producing more reality-speak. In so doing he created a new form of fiction, one whose power can continue to serve us today.”
Associate Professor, Ball State University
“Our lives are saturated by media representations, mostly in the service of market forces, that clamor to tell us who we should be and how we should see our world.
Cervantes rescues us from the existential dread these demanding voices can create by showing us the ridiculous and hilarious nature of any attempt at telling us how things are or should be. He liberates us from the false belief that there is a "right" way to navigate "reality" and gives us the serious gift of not taking ourselves too seriously.”
Professor, Rutgers University-Camden. Executive Officer of the Cervantes Society of America
“Cervantes, that epicenter of Spanish cultural modernity, has been intensively recognized by those relegated to the margins of history. During the twentieth century, the giant that “asks you to address him as a friend” kept the company of dissidents, exiles, and even those imprisoned in concentration camps. One grateful survivor founded an extraordinary Cervantine museum in Guanajuato (Mexico), while many others built their homages more intimately, making the author the indelible trademark of their experiential and literary sensibilities. Today, thanks to the Cervantine compass, we all can traverse—with a beautiful gallop or just a slow trot—the crossroads of Baroque disenchantment and millennial disengagement with depth, elegance, and humor.”
Vice Provost for Global Engagement, Drexel University
“Cervantes is alive and well today not only in academic and elitist spaces, but also in marginalized neighborhoods and underserved communities. In Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Spain or the United States, numerous youth and cultural nonprofits adapt Cervantes' works, in particular Don Quixote, to tackle today's contemporary realities and challenges. Cervantes continues to inspire children, youth, and adults with the power of words and art to better oneself and achieve a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive society.”
Professor, Concordia University
“Cervantes understood only too well the fictions and myths that arise when scientific knowledge is pulled from its context of production and yoked to racism, sexism, classism, and so on. By critically weaving scientific discoveries and debates into his fiction, he gives us tools to analyze and combat misleading uses of science and history. More importantly, he shows us the necessity and power of art in a world that fetishizes technology at the expense of human relationships.”