Parker and the Anti-Romantic Interpretation of Don Quijote

As is well known, A.A. Parker made a major contribution to the study of Spanish Golden Age literature (above all Calderón). This is the first extended study of his career-long, but relatively neglected, engagement with Cervantes (in particular, the Quijote). It seeks to show that, paradoxically, Parker's views on Cervantes's novel differ both from those of the `Romantic' critics and their heirs (notably Americo Castro) and from those of the major proponents (P.E. Russell, Anthony Close) of the `Anti-Romantic' approach to the text, an approach which it seems likely that Parker himself pioneered. Thus, the article contributes towards a more detailed mapping of the relationship between some of the most influential strands in twentieth-century Cervantes criticism.