Vsevolod Bagno

Presenting his own classification of the world literature, A. Solzhenitsyn mentions Cervan­tes who is plunged by the «exterior violence» into the horrible world, inhabited by the «lowly» where he can share and preserve their experiences. The writer claims that he also belongs to this very «sphere». The article argues that Cervantes, with his extensive experience of the lack of exterior freedom, touches on certain poignant issues that Solzhenitsyn has subsequently treated in his original way. The main work in question is Don Quioxote, that can be read as a fable on freedom and non-freedom.