What does Don Quixote have to do with Spaceballs? Nothing, you might think. But according to Bruce Burningham, a Spanish and Comparative Literature professor at Illinois State University and guest lecturer of the Chicago Humanities Festival, the famous novel by Miguel de Cervantes was actually a precursor to Mel Brooks’ classic Star Wars spoof.
Considered to be the first modern novel, Don Quixote is both a parody of the chivalric romance novels of its day and a witty satire of class structure, concepts of nobility, and the morality of the church. In his Star Wars parody, Brooks, like Cervantes before him, blends satire and farce with comedic results.
With Spaceballs as its theme, Burningham’s presentation promises to be an amusing examination of the function of social satire and the role that Miguel De Cervantes’ epic novel played in the Mel Brooks film.
The lecture is this Saturday, November 14th at 10:00 a.m. It will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 77 West Washington Street in Chicago. Tickets are $5 for adults and free for educators and students. Click here for more information.
The event is part of the Chicago Humanities Festival, which runs through November 15th. For more information on the festival, click here.
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