Science Fiction in 21st-century Argentine Literature: The Trauma of the Past, the Future as Regression

We can see that in many cases, the “New Argentinian Narrative” (NAN, or Nueva Narrativa Argentina in Spanish), has a particular way of utilizing the incorrectly dubbed “lesser” genres, such as science fiction. We believe that NAN “uses” this genre with specific characteristics. First, it is operated...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lucía Soledad Vazquez
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata 2020-07-01
Series:Estudios de Teoría Literaria
Subjects:
Online Access:http://fh.mdp.edu.ar/revistas/index.php/etl/article/view/4116
Description
Summary:We can see that in many cases, the “New Argentinian Narrative” (NAN, or Nueva Narrativa Argentina in Spanish), has a particular way of utilizing the incorrectly dubbed “lesser” genres, such as science fiction. We believe that NAN “uses” this genre with specific characteristics. First, it is operated through a mechanism of regression, as past trauma colors tints imagined futures. Here we analyze future-building in four novels: El año del desierto by Pedro Mairal (2005); Plop by Rafael Pinedo (2004); Berazachussetts by Leandro Ávalos Blacha (2007); and Gongue by Marcelo Cohen (2012). In these novels, the future is regressive and constitutes a return to the past. The configuration of time also defines that of space, and a unique new chronotopes is are created: regressive deserts and rivers. These are two significant spaces in the collective national imagination, associated with the civilization-barbarism dichotomy that is a common thread in is a constant topic in Argentine literature as a whole. These works make use of elements from science fiction in order to consider their own present, which is the consequence of a traumatic past.
ISSN:2313-9676