In de Maravilloso Reading Group duiken we in korte fictie van queer en femme schrijvers uit Argentinië, Ecuador, de Dominicaanse Republiek en Mexico. Denk aan spookrivieren, femicides en gothic landschappen: verhalen die via magisch realisme de gewelddadige erfenis van kolonialisme, kapitalisme en ecologische verwoesting blootleggen. Met teksten zoals Gore Capitalism van Sayak Valencia onderzoeken we hoe fictie de gruwel van de realiteit vangt.

woe 6/08, 18:00 - WIELS

zo 10/08, 17/08, 24/08 & 31/08, 12:00 - argos

In het Engels

Gratis, max. 15 deelnemers. Schrijf je via dit formulier.

Georganiseerd door Ros del Olmo & Ire. Vragen? maravilloso_reading_group@protonmail.com

Goed om weten

De Maravilloso Reading Group is verbonden aan de tentoonstelling Magisch Realisme. Bezoek die vooraf als je kunt.

Je hoeft niets mee te brengen of voor te bereiden. Kom gerust naar meerdere sessies, maar één keer is ook prima. De lobby van argos is rolstoeltoegankelijk. Koffie en snacks worden voorzien.

Toelichting van de organisatoren:

"Capitalism and its production of gore imagery has crossed over the strange, thin line between fantasy and reality, producing a complete reversal that re-established reality as something horrifying and true that increasingly resembles fiction, but differs from fiction in that it is heartbreakingly palpable and irreparable."*

What if what lies within the magical is not necessarily a space of refuge but a deposit of terror? How does land contamination affect contemporary myth-making? How to write fiction in a world where reality already looks like a splatter film?

The Maravilloso Reading Group attempts to reflect on the cultural interpretations of violence in nations distressed by neoliberal capitalist logic. Through an analysis of contemporary South American fiction, we will look at the ways writers use the magical to illuminate the terror that’s woven into their surrounding ecosystems. The syllabus includes a selection of short gothic fiction** written by queer and femme writers from Argentina, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Peru and Mexico in the second decade of the 21st century. The theoretical backbone of this reading series is a 2010 philosophical essay by Sayak Valencia entitled “Gore Capitalism.” From drug trafficking industries to femicides to ghosts to black rivers, the Maravilloso Reading Group will uncover the inescapable gore of 21st century’s magical reality.

*quote from Sayak Valencia’s Gore Capitalism, p. 235.

**Latin American Gothic is a subgenre that gained significant popularity amongst 21st-century South American writers. In their practice, the writers draw from the aesthetics of fear and haunting and apply them to the political and geographical specificity of their contexts.