Figuring Forth: Cervantes’ Don Quijote, Poet in Prose

Cervantes’ groundbreaking novel, Don Quixote, is a comic but profound meditation on dreams, disillusionment and the blurred line between illusion and reality Its legacy is less timeless than differently meaningful across time, from the tragic idealism identified by the Romantics ( the term “quixotic” originates from Cervantes’ protagonist) to the metafictional complexity engaged with by modern critics. Professor Isabel Torres explores how the ancient root of poetry, ‘poiesis’, comes alive in the creative madness of Cervantes’s protagonist, and the power of lyric in early modern Spain. Speaker: Professor Isabel Torres FBA This podcast is for informative and educational purposes. 10-Minute Talks are a series of pre-recorded talks from Fellows of the British Academy screened on YouTube and also available on all podcasting platforms. The British Academy convenes research insights from across the disciplines we represent. The views expressed in our videos are those of the contributors and do not reflect the views of the British Academy. Find out more about the British Academy: For future events, visit our website:

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Figuring Forth: Cervantes’ Don Quijote, Poet in Prose is an episode from 10-Minute Talks by The British Academy.

This episode is 12:32 long.

This episode was published on Nov 21, 2025.

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