"Ecos góticos en la novela del Cono Sur," by Nadina Olmedo

"Ecos góticos en la novela del Cono Sur," by Nadina Olmedo

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Ecos góticos en la novela del Cono Sur, by Nadina Olmedo (University of San Francisco)

Ecos góticos en la novela del Cono Sur analyzes a wide range of gothic allegories in relation to their social contexts. Olmedo interprets latent motifs from the past and present—including the metaphorical presence of vampires, ghosts, monstrous figures, and houses in ruins—and expounds upon them, examining transformations and reinventions of the genre while offering new and original categorizations of Southern Cone Gothic. 

Latin American literary criticism has traditionally underestimated the significance of the gothic æsthetics, in spite of the rich gothic literary tradition of Latin America. Specifically in the Southern Cone-—the focus of this research—there is a particular recurrence and consumption of this genre, not only in literature but also in cinema, which has not yet received extensive attention by critics. Ecos góticos en la novela del Cono Sur argues that a close examination of the gothic and fantastic elements in these novels unveils anxieties, repressions and manifestations of social decay that underlie common codes of social decency and the conventions of maintaining an oppressive social tradition. This analysis extends from the beginning of the twentieth-century through the Boom of the Latin American Novel.

Chapter one explores the dissemination of gothic figures and forms from their eighteenth-century Nordic and European origins to arrival to Latin America, emphasizing this trajectory especially in the context of those countries located in the south of the southern hemisphere. Chapter two discusses how gothic æsthetic was used at the beginning of the twentieth-century to comment on the effects of modernization and scientific/psychological discoveries in the region through the study of works by Atilio Chiápori and Horacio Quiroga. Chapter three analyzes the gothic as a powerful feminist discourse for female authors of the first half of the twentieth century, such as María Luisa Bombal and Armonía Somers. Chapter four focuses on the way the gothic æsthetic was employed as a mechanism to communicate social and moral decay in works by José Donoso and Beatriz Guido. Chapter five explores how gothic was used to question political-social repression and a dictatorship by Alejandra Pizarnik. Finally, the conclusion demonstrates that while the Gothic æsthetic maintains certain constants throughout the twentieth-century, its underlying meaning shifts to reflect the dominant political-social themes of each era, thus ensuring its continued appeal to popular audiences.

Dr. Nadina Olmedo is Assistant Professor at the Department of Modern and Classical Languages of the University of San Francisco. She earned her Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies at the University of Kentucky. Her general area of expertise is Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies. Her research interests focus on Gothic Literature, Women and Gender Studies, and Emergent Horror Cinemas. Before joining USF, she taught at Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia, the University of Kentucky, and Campbellsville University. 

Carlitos Olmedo, illustrator of the cover and interior pictures, is a graduate of National University of La Plata, Argentina. He now teaches fine arts in his native Patagonia, and is also active as a musician, composer, screenwriter, and author.

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Series: Estudio de literatura latinoamericana, #14
ISBN: 978-1-58871-234-9 (HB with dust jacket, 239 pp.) $50