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Chapter 8 - Paraliterature

from Part II - New Genres

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2022

Mónica Szurmuk
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional de San Martín and National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina
Debra A. Castillo
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

This chapter traces a path from the literary canonization of traditional forms of paraliterature, such as detective fiction and science fiction, to Latin American authors’ recent engagement with extraliterary reading practices. It also expands the definition of paraliterature to include widely disseminated informational and regulatory texts not typically considered literary, such as encyclopedias and state-administered exams, and examines paraliterature’s intersections with the avant-garde. Using a theoretical framework centered on Latin American ideas of engaged and “postautonomous” literature, this chapter first examines the embrace of popular categories of genre fiction by literary writers and then turns to autofictional, testimonial, and pseudo-referential works that cross boundaries between literature and the real. Through works from canonical authors such as Roberto Bolaño, Horacio Castellanos Moya, and Diamela Eltit, as well as younger writers such as Verónica Stigger, Ricardo Lísias, and Ena Lucía Portela, this chapter addresses ways in which contemporary fiction and poetry intersect with their sociopolitical contexts and call into question the limits and purposes of literary writing and reading practices.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

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  • Paraliterature
  • Edited by Mónica Szurmuk, Universidad Nacional de San Martín and National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina, Debra A. Castillo, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Latin American Literature in Transition 1980–2018
  • Online publication: 24 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108976459.009
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  • Paraliterature
  • Edited by Mónica Szurmuk, Universidad Nacional de San Martín and National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina, Debra A. Castillo, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Latin American Literature in Transition 1980–2018
  • Online publication: 24 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108976459.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Paraliterature
  • Edited by Mónica Szurmuk, Universidad Nacional de San Martín and National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina, Debra A. Castillo, Cornell University, New York
  • Book: Latin American Literature in Transition 1980–2018
  • Online publication: 24 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108976459.009
Available formats
×