The Spatialized Self and the Fictional Opening Towards Collectivized Subjectivities: A Look at Buenos Aires Narrative that Begins the 21st Century

Abstract

In the urban narratives of the first decade of the 21st century that refract the diverse existences of Buenos Aires, the first-person narrative voice is employed. Although materially a self, it does not dramatize the individuality of the narrating character; rather, in describing the city’s space, it allows access to the polyphony of the collective inhabiting it. This aesthetic procedure carries a sociopolitical interpretation, entailing an examination of the neoliberal urban order and its literary history. Through the analysis of the novels Las viudas de los jueves (2005) by Claudia Piñeiro, El año del desierto (2005) by Pedro Mairal, and the short story “Walter y el perro Dos Narices” (2007) by Juan Diego Incardona, this spatialized self will be explored. It seeks to contemplate the Buenos Aires/Latin American collectivities of the new millennium.