Rinconete y Cortadillo y la novela picaresca

In this article I propose a new perspective for the study of Cervantine picaresque, based on an historical analysis of the procedures Cervantes used in his novels related to that genre, without entering into the polemics over whether or not certain Cervantine productions actually belong to the picaresque genre. I apply this perspective to Rinconete y Cortadillo. The novelette is shown to be a stage at which Cervantes discovered ¿his¿ pícaro par excellence: the happy and carefree Carriazo. It is also worthwhile to consider Rinconete y Cortadillo in the light of Ginés de Pasamonte¿s famous declarations in Don Quixote 1, 22; there are in fact important lexical and poetic parallels. Indeed, the chain of galley slaves appears to be the logical conclusion to Rinconete y Cortadillo. Ginés, Rincón, and Carriazo constitute consecutive, linked stages in Cervantes¿s understanding of Alemán¿s fiction