Declaring Mysteries: Narration, Translation, and The Figure of The Interpreter in Don Quixote

Professor Kathryn Vomero Santos is a scholar of English literature who introduces and analyzes the question of what Don Quixote teaches us in the history and theory of interpretation from his novel. Despite the structure and theme of Don Quixote, it is known as a modern novel in all honors.

Unveiling Secrets: Storytelling, Translation, and The Role of The Interpreter in Don Quixote

The lesson taught about Don Quixote is that there is value in all people despite political positions, worldview, weight, age, etc. In the novel, Don, who strives to be a heroic knight, reveals how ludicrous these old-fashioned notions can be to those who have overcome living in today's life. It is inaccurate to assume that “Don’t lose touch with reality” is the moral of the story, because Don’s tale is not glorified, but portrayed almost as a mockery and the outcome of a cultural formation that has run its sequence. Additionally, the novel challenges readers to consider the nature of madness and reality, offering insights into how society shapes our perceptions.

With the idea of the Don Quixote novel, it also portrays a rich term of old interpretations. It captures how translation works in the political and personal domain. It exampled the word "trujamán" in the meaning of an interpreter, which originated from Arabic. In the novel, Don also played the role of a bilingual who started to be labeled as untrustworthy as he gained more knowledge in being able to speak not only Spanish but also Arabic fluently. This reflects the tension between cultural exchange and mistrust, illustrating how language can both connect and divide people.

Since the novel was based on the language of Spanish, the people were only in use of trusting the ladino speaker, which Don did bring his story back from Arabic. In conclusion, as we go back into Professor Vomero's purpose of what this novel has taught us, it indeed has allowed us to understand the situation that occurred in early Spain in the art of storytelling. It demonstrates to us that fiction is not just something that can be told mechanically but instead by an interpreter; storytelling on behalf of others or even themselves. This suggests that narratives are inherently subjective, shaped by the interpreter’s understanding and intentions.

On behalf of translating, do you think when interpreters have to explain an idiom to others, they tend to offend people since idioms can be comprehended as a different type of understanding to people?