AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 6, Number2.  May 2022                              Pp. 144-164
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol6no2.11

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The Ideal and the Real in Cervantes’s Don Quixote:
A Hegelian Dialectic Approach 

Bechir Saoudi¹, Renad Hammad Al-Hammad², Bdoor Ibrahim Al-Rafiah²,
Alhanouf Saud Al-Tamimi², Atheer Hamdan Al-Guraini², Arwa Khaled Al-Shuraym²_,
Atheer Fahad Al-Eid²

¹English Department, College of Science and Humanities, Hotat Bani Tamim, Prince
Sattam Bin AbdulAziz University, Al-Kharj, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia English
Department, ISEAH, Kef, Jendouba University, Tunisia
Correspondent Author: ctat.ctat@yahoo.com 

²English Department, College of Science and Humanities, Hotat Bani Tamim, Prince
Sattam Bin AbdulAziz University, Al-Kharj, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Received:1/29/2022                Accepted: 5/19/2022               Published: 5/24/2022

Abstract:
This research project studies the real and the ideal in Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote from a Hegelian dialectic perspective. Hegel’s framework of thesis, antithesis and synthesis is applicable to the analysis of the opposing themes of idealism and realism in the novel. Three main questions have been dealt with: First, what makes up Don Quixote’s idealism? Second, what are the main components of realism that stand in his way? Third, what is the outcome of the interaction between the ideal and the real? The study has managed to answer its key research questions: First, idealism in the novel is exemplified by Don Quixote who believes in chivalry principles as unquestionably truthful and genuine. Second, realism is mainly represented by Sancho and the characters that are concerned with immediate practical preoccupations and material matters. Third, Quixote’s application of his version of idealism witnesses a transfer towards a concession to the real world that, in turn, makes a significant transference to reconcile with Don Quixote’s ideals. Applying the thesis-antithesis-synthesis dialectic approach to analyze conflicting themes is a productive exploration of literature.
Keywords: antithesis, Don Quixote, Hegel’s dialectics, ideal, Miguel de Cervantes, real, synthesis, thesis

Cite as:  Saoudi,B., Al-Hammad, R.H., Al-Rafiah, B. I., Al-Tamimi, S. S., Al-Guraini, A. H., Al-Shuraym‎, A. K., & Al-Eid, A. F. (2022).  The Ideal and the Real in Cervantes’s Don Quixote: A Hegelian Dialectic Approach. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 6 (2) 144-164.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol6no2.11

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