De la novella bocaciana a las novelas ejemplares

Abstract

Since Miguel de Cervantes in the title and the Prologue to his Novelas ejemplares gives the term novel a foundational value both in his narrative and in the history of Spanish prose, I will begin by analyzing the conditions of the diffusion of the Italian novella in Spain. I will also consider how, throughout his literary production, Cervantes was actually exploring the changing meaning not only of the word inherited from the Tuscan language —novella—, but of the genre itself.