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The Palgrave Handbook of Affect Studies and Textual Criticism pp 627–652Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Don Quixote’s Affective Thoughts

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Abstract

Although much recent work in neurocognitive science and evolutionary studies concludes that emotion and feeling both underlie and provide biological support for a range of cognitive functions, and that emotion and reason are no more separable than are mind and brain or nature and nurture, this study of Don Quixote’s “affective thoughts” is focused not on demonstrating that feeling influences, colors, or determines Don Quixote’s thinking, but rather is concerned with the way that Cervantes deals with his protagonist’s thoughts and feelings at a few specific times in his novel. That is to say, the essay is concerned with the narrative technique employed in the novel at certain crucial moments in Don Quixote’s life. Cervantes’ narrative technique is contrasted with that of other, chronologically later, writers often admired for the way they deal with the psychology of their characters. Dealing with the presentation of thought and affect in literature in terms of Theory of Mind and empathy , this chapter maintains that Cervantes is an extraordinary master of narrative presentation of inferential thought , which is neither direct thought, thought report, nor free indirect thought. Rather, it is stated or implied that the character is thinking, but there is no specific indication of what those thoughts might be. The narrator and/or the characters establish a context by means of what they say and/or do and the reader must infer what the character is thinking.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Howard Mancing

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  1. Howard Mancing
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA

    Donald R. Wehrs

  2. English/Philosophy Department, Monroe Community College, Rochester, New York, USA

    Thomas Blake

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Mancing, H. (2017). Don Quixote’s Affective Thoughts. In: Wehrs, D., Blake, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Affect Studies and Textual Criticism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63303-9_23

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