Representation as a theme and aesthetic principle of Miguel de Cervantes’ creative work

The author relies upon social, cultural, philosophical and aesthetic interpretations of the notion ‘representation’ in the works of M. Foucault, R. Chartier, C. Ginsburg, W. Iser, L. Marin, M. Yampolskiy a.o., as well as on the medieval idea of ‘representation’ as a part of a state funerary ritual in her analysis of representational and anti-representational aspects of Cervantes’ works. Various representational characteristics are revealed both on the level of plot (sonnet At the Catafalque of King Philip II in Seville, a funerary ritual as a core of the plot and compositional structure of pastoral and pastoral episodes of Don Quixote, the image of ‘dead body’ in the novel, the motif of ‘gem’ in the Novelas Ejemplares ) and also as a general principle of neo-Aristotelian poetics that Cervantes both affirms and mimics. The paper claims ambiguity to be a specific characteristic of all the works written by the author of Don Quixote.