|
''El Buscón'' (full title ''Historia de la vida del Buscón, llamado Don Pablos, ejemplo de vagamundos y espejo de tacaños'' (literally: History of the life of the Swindler, called Don Pablos, model for hobos and mirror of misers); translated as ''Paul the Sharper or The Scavenger'' and ''The Swindler'') is a picaresque novel by Francisco de Quevedo. It was written around 1604 (the exact date of completion is not known) and published in 1626 by a press in Zaragoza (without Quevedo's permission〔(Summaries of Spanish Literature Books )〕), though it had circulated in manuscript form previous to that.〔(El Buscon - Quevedo )〕 ==Purpose of the work== The only novel written by Quevedo, it is presented in the first person singular and chronicles the adventures of Don Pablos, a ''buscón'' or swindler. Pablos sets out in life with two aims: to learn virtue and to become a ''caballero'' (gentleman). He fails miserably in both.〔Henry Ettinghausen, “Quevedo's Converso Picaro,” ''MLN'', Vol. 102, No. 2, Hispanic Issue (Mar., 1987), 241.〕 ''El Buscón'' has been considered a profound satire on Spanish life, but also as a literary exercise for Quevedo, in that he was able to utilize word-play and verbal flourishes and his skill as a literary caricaturist.〔 ''El Buscón'' also propounds the notion that children of parents without honor will never be able to achieve honor themselves.〔 C. Brian Morris has written that Quevedo pursues Pablos with a series of "desgracias...encadenadas" ("linked calamities").〔C. Brian Morris, "The Unity and Structure of Quevedo’s ‘Buscón’: ‘Desgracias encadenadas’", ''Occasional Papers in Modern Language'', no. 1 (Hull: University of Hull, 1965).〕 James Iffland describes these "linked calamities" as a "torturously up and down, bouncing trajectory which marks Pablos's career from the outset."〔James Iffland, ''Quevedo and the Grotesque'' (Boydell & Brewer, 1982), 76.〕 Quevedo satirizes Spanish society, but also attacks Pablos himself, who attempts throughout the novel to achieve a higher station in life and become a gentleman.〔 Such aspirations from the lower classes would only destabilize the social order, in Quevedo's eyes.〔 Quevedo punishes Pablos for attempting to better himself. "For Pablos, human society is the only reality. He knows no other. He is young, innocent, a little foolish."〔Terence E. May, ''Wit of the Golden Age: Articles on Spanish Literature'' (Edition Reichenberger, 1986), 125.〕 Eventually, Pablos is driven to become a ''pícaro'', or rogue.〔 The work also incorporates autobiographical elements. In 1608, Quevedo dueled with the writer and fencing master Luis Pacheco de Narváez as a result of Quevedo criticizing one of his works. Quevedo took off Pacheco's hat in the first encounter. They were enemies all their lives.〔(Destreza Translation & Research Project: Famous Duels )〕〔(Luis Pacheco de Narváez y Quevedo, historia de un odio )〕 In ''El Buscón'', this duel is parodied with a fencer relying on mathematical calculations having to run away from a duel with an experienced soldier. Quevedo makes an early references to the effects of syphilis when he puns in his ''Buscón''〔:wikisource:es:Historia de la vida del Buscón: Libro Primero: Capítulo III: continues with ''() porque se le había comido de unas búas de resfriado, que aun no fueron de vicio porque cuestan dinero;'': "() because it had been eaten by the bubons of a cold, which were not of vice because they cost money;".〕 about a nose ''entre Roma y Francia'' meaning both "between Rome and France" and "between dull and eaten by the French illness". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「El Buscón」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|