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Chapter 5 - Speculative Fiction

from Part II - New Genres

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2022

By
Liliana Colanzi  and
Jessica Sequeira
Edited by
Mónica Szurmuk  and
Debra A. Castillo
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

In Latin American literature almost all paths lead to the fantastic; the region has the distinct anomaly of giving the fantastic mode a central place in its narrative tradition. This essay will not discuss the similarities or differences between fantastical literature, science fiction, and horror, given the numerous hybridizations between subgenres and the fact that this conceptual discussion escapes the limits of the current work. Instead, I have chosen to group them under the rubric of speculative fiction. My aim is to point out some of the possible paths and bifurcations that the genre has taken since 1980, conscious of the possibility of multiple other readings. This essay will discuss the way in which the transition to democracy, neoliberal policies, and technological and social changes in Latin America were portrayed in literature through fictional universes, dystopias, and alternative histories; cyberpunk, hackers, and cyborgs; Chile’s “freak power,” virtual reality, and internet fictions; monsters and other fantastical creatures, eco-horror, and stories from the Anthropocene.

Keywords

speculative fictionLatin American literaturecyberpunkscience fictionhorrorfantastical literature
Type
Chapter
Information
Latin American Literature in Transition 1980–2018 , pp. 79 - 92
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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