Don Quixote's Structure and the Three Textual Modalities

Cervantes' Don Quixote: Social Documentary and Literary Synthesis

The work is a dense social documentary of its era. In it appear real places, characters, historical events, and all kinds of social groups like pastoralists, bandits, and priests. The characters of the protagonists, Don Quixote and Sancho, evolve along the work. Through dialogue, each one acquires features: Don Quixote (the idealistic, crazy one) ends up being more realistic and disillusioned, while Sancho loses much of his rusticity.

Literarily, Don Quixote is a very attractive novel. It constitutes a synthesis of all previous literature: pastoral novel, novel of love, Moorish novel, and maintains the fiction of chivalric romance. Cervantes uses literature within literature: literary works are not only mentioned, but the Dukes (fictional characters in the second part) have read the first part and know Quixote and Sancho through it.

Of the several narrative structures that can be appreciated in the work, one of the most modern is the circular structure: the cycle that marks the adventures starts three times (leaves home, returns home).

Analysis of Textual Modalities

The following sections detail the linguistic and structural characteristics of three fundamental textual modalities: Narrative, Descriptive, and Dialogue.

1. Characteristics of Narrative Text

The narrative style often employs both direct and indirect speech. Key features include:

• Direct Speech Transcription: The words of the speaker are reproduced, often introduced by a verb and transcribed using quotation marks or preceded by a colon or dash.
• The Omniscient Narrator: The narrator knows everything about the characters' thoughts and feelings.
• Foreshadowing and Judgment: The narrator sometimes foreshadows anecdotes that will occur later in the story. In more advanced cases, the narrator judges and values the actions and characters.

2. Characteristics of Descriptive Text

In descriptive texts, noun phrases (and their nucleus, the noun) are more frequent than verbs, because the classification and states are more important than the development of actions.

• Adjectives: A key feature is the adjective, as it expresses the qualities of beings. If the description is technical or scientific, specific adjectives prevail. If it is literary, epithets abound.
• Location and Time: Explanatory descriptions are often important for the proper location of what is described, and therefore adverbs or adverbial phrases of place and time abound.
• Tenses: The characteristic tenses are the present and the imperfect past tense of the indicative mood.
• Syntax: Simple sentences dominate the syntax, and juxtaposed and coordinated clauses abound. This structure is intended to present what is described as a whole and achieve simultaneity.

3. Characteristics of Dialogue Text

Dialogue text is characterized by features reflecting spontaneous speech:

• Functions: Predominant functions are the emotional (expressive) and conative (appellate).
• Syntax: Syntax is usually much less structured than in written language, with a minor presence of subordination and many brief periods.
• Voice and Resources: Low utilization of the passive voice. Nonverbal expressive resources are often used.
• Vocabulary: Vocabulary is generally commonplace.
• Appeals: Direct appeals to the listener are expressed by formulas.
• Pronouns and Mood: References to the sender and receiver are made through possessive and personal pronouns. There is a preference for the subjunctive mood.