The Photographic Negative of an Epiphany: Figurations of Time in the Work of Roberto Bolaño

Abstract

This work aims to observe some figurations of the theme of time in Roberto Bolaño’s work from a free, philosophical and symbolic perspective, in an effort to capture the way in which the author constructs a kind of zeitgeist by condensing readings about the past and prefigurations about the future. In this endeavor, we start by observing how his novels can be divided into two categories: those that look backwards and those that look in the opposite direction. Then, it is observed how the Latin American territory is a place through which, in Bolaño’s work, important reflections about time emerge, comprising images ranging from a photographic negative to the mirroring of bloodthirsty Aztec rituals with violence practiced in contemporary times. In this scenario, what emerges is catastrophe and hopelessness, indicating a natural and teleological process of annihilation of any possibility of a future.