Politics as a secret dimension in Ricardo Piglia, José Donoso, Diamela Eltit and Juan José Saer

Abstract

The article analyzes four novels –Respiración artificial by Ricardo Piglia, Casa de campo by José Donoso, Lumpérica by Diamela Eltit and Nada nadie nunca by Juan José Saer–, written by two Chilean and two Argentinian authors with very similar publishing dates, focusing on the oblique ways in which the political dimension appears in these works. Starting from the notion of the secret, as something which remains hidden, resisting appearance in the plot of the novels, though articulating the complete text, we propose an approach to the political secret. The constellation which emerges by reading the four novels in dialogue illuminates the functioning of the novellas, as well as the manners of comprehending literature, history, and narration.