Os Detetives Selvagens (1998) e a escrita do passado: interfaces entre história e literatura na obra de Roberto Bolaño

Abstract

The present work consists of a qualitative analysis of the interfaces between literature and the writing of history in the book The Savage Detectives (1998) by the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño. Thus, it aims to produce an interpretation of the writing of the past in the fictional narrative of the work in question, encompassing the representations of tragedy and generational failure. In this sense, the research examines the "historical pulse" of the era, the experiences of poets, artists, and militants amidst the disillusionment and generational ruptures post-1968. The theoretical framework articulates the concept of the "practical past" by Hayden White, the notions of "Minor Literature" by Deleuze and Guattari, and the investigation of the tragic proposed by Raymond Williams. Furthermore, the applied methodology focuses on the investigation of the fictional sources of the book The Savage Detectives, in addition to interviews granted by Roberto Bolaño throughout his life, as well as his biography and literary trajectory. Finally, the analysis of the book problematized in this research demonstrates that the Chilean writer, reflecting upon his own past, reconfigures the memory of political and aesthetic projects that were interrupted by authoritarianism and exile, creating, thereby, a resistance of memory for those who were defeated by the facts.