Otra tierra baldía: El desierto como espacio y función en la narrativa de Diego Zúñiga

Using some notions of intertextuality and topoiesis (space theory), this work analyzes
the novels Camanchaca (2009) and Racimo (2014) by Chilean writer Diego Zúñiga, where, the
space of the desert becomes a constant. Th is same constant not only articulates its most visible
topics, that range from uprooting, the embroiled path through childhood, and, overall, the diffi culty of building bonds with family and friends, but also the possibility of their enunciation.
On one hand, the desert works as a reference and a scenario (it is the Atacama Desert, whose
camanchaca and darkness aff ect the characters’ behavior); but on the other hand, this huge
space works on a symbolic level in terms of dialogue and the appropriation of earlier narratives (especially that of Roberto Bolaño). In many scenes of their narrative, we witness a family
or a couple with a desert in between, which makes it diffi cult for the narrators to construct
the story in a truthful way. Th is is why the stories are constantly interrupted by autofi ctional
and metafi ctional refl ections, narrating the immeasurable desert and the impossibility of making
truths or revelations emerge