Ethics and Literature in Chile, Argentina, and Paraguay, 1970-2000

"Philosophy and literary criticism come together in a masterly way in Carlos Amador's intelligent and nuanced treatment of Latin American dictatorships in the work of Southern Cone writers such as Augusto Roa Bastos and Roberto Bolano. This book problematizes the political in Latin American literature in new and challenging ways...An important contribution to Latin American literary studies and philosophy." (Rolando Perez, Professor of Latin American Literature and Philosophy, Hunter College-City University of New York, USA)

This book argues for a new reading of the political and ethical through the literatures of Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay from 1970-2000. Carlos Amador reads a series of examples from the last dictatorship and the current post-dictatorship period in the Southern Cone, including works by Augusto Roa Bastos, Roberto Bolaño, Ceferino Reato, Horacio Verbitsky, Nelly Richard, Diamela Eltit, and Willy Thayer, with the goal of uncovering the logic behind their conceptions of belonging and rejection. Focusing on theoretical concepts that make possible the formation of any and all communities, this study works towards a vision of literature as essential to the structure of ethics.