Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Can one of the world's most iconic books be boiled down to a Tweetable 140 characters? Don Quixote was parodied or plagiarized, depending on how you look at it, before Cervantes could even write the second volume chronicling the misadventures of an errant knight and his loyal sidekick. The 400-year old tome has inspired a plethora of adaptations, including ballets, symphonies, cartoons, films, poems, operas, Halloween costumes, and bumper stickers. Now, it is also the stuff of social media.

With days to go until Don Quixote in the Age of Electronic Reproduction, the three-day Obermann-International Programs Humanities Symposium (Oct. 22, 23, 24, 2015) exploring the uses and reuses of this cultural icon and its contemporary relevance, we have assembled our favorite 140-character renditions, as well as a slide show of adaptations from around the world.

  • Reading inspired me to live by the ideals of our heroes, but when I did, people thought I was insane. - @jphourcade
  • Reading drove me crazy, fighting for justice made me mad, getting back up again kept me going; when I regained my sanity, I died. -@denise_filios
  • Knighthood overtook me, the many adventures that followed enlightened me, I was seen as crazy, I was ridiculed, I was sick, I went. -@jordansmason
  • We travel to other worlds through reading, but what happens when those worlds visit us and overstay their welcome? -@emily_wallace1
  • The reality of life is sometimes stranger then our dreams but we seem insane when we try to follow our dreams. -@awilkins007
  • With my squire on my right and my lady leading the way, the dark and adventurous path awaits.....trot! -@lopezzz_c
  • Rumor has it, you can do just about anything with a little bit of crazy and some cardboard. -@CMendy25