Bolivian Oblivion: national allegory and teleology in sci-fi and futurism from the High Andes. Mauricio Calderón's El triángulo del lago (1999) and Spedding's De cuando en cuando Saturnina (2004)

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1 Jameson, Frederic. 1986 Jameson, Frederic. 1986. Third-world literature in the era of multinational capitalism. Social Text, : 65–88. (Autumn): [Google Scholar]. Third-world literature in the era of multinational capitalism. Social Text No. 15(Autumn): 65–88. Response by Ahmad, Aijaz. 1987 Ahmad, Aijaz. 1987. Jameson's rhetoric of otherness and the ‘national allegory’. Social Text, : 3–25. (Autumn): [Google Scholar]. Jameson's rhetoric of otherness and the ‘national allegory’. Social Text No. 17(Autumn): 3–25. 2 Here it is worth remembering Eduardo Galeano's scrutiny of the term ‘underdevelopment’ as applied uncritically to Latin America according to the same scale of values as North America and Europe. Galeano uses the analogy of confusing a child with a dwarf, two beings that may be superficially similar but belong to entirely separate sets of circumstances. (Galeano in conversation with Miguel Bonasso in the television documentary South: Days of Hope. Broadcast by Channel Four, UK, 12 April 1993.) 3 Latin Americans of European descent, whether real or imagined, are often anxious to be distinguished from those of non-European ethnic background. 4 Altitude in La Paz is a curious but generally reliable indicator of social status, the highest and coldest neighbourhoods being inhabited by the poorer, usually indigenous migrant sectors. 5 Quisbert, Pablo C. ‘La gloria de la raza’: historia prehispánica, imaginarios e identidades entre 1930 y 1950. Revista de Estudios Bolivianos No 12, La Paz 2004. 6 Sarlo, Beatriz. Una modernidad periférica Sarlo, Beatriz. 1988. Una modernidad periférica: Buenos Aires, 1920 y 1930, Buenos Aires: Ediciones Nueva Visión. [Google Scholar]. 7 Calderón, Fernando. 1995. Latin American identity and mixed temporalities; or, how to be postmodern and indian at the same time. In The Postmodernism Debate in Latin America, edited by John Beverley, José Oviedo, and Michael Aronna. London: Duke University Press: 55. 8 Cooperativa cruceña de cultura. 1989. Los cruceños y la cultura. Un diagnóstico de la cultura en Santa Cruz. Cooperativa cruceña de cultura: 117 (my translation). 9 Cited in Laguna Meave, 2002 Laguna Meave, Alberto. 2002. Tiwanaku; enigma de enigmas, La Paz: Benavides. [Google Scholar]: 85. 10 Some versions of the Inkarrí myth feature Titicaca in this role. See for example the Chacaray version in Alencastre Montúfar, Gustavo. 1976. Historias fantásticas del Perú colonial. Cusco: Ed. Pachacuti el Grande: 188, in which the former Inca lands are conceived as the body of Pachamama. 11 See Sánchez-H, José. 1999 Sánchez-H, José. 1999. The Art and Politics of Bolivian Cinema, London: Scarecrow Press. [Google Scholar]. The art and politics of Bolivian cinema. London: Scarecrow Press: 17–22, for a discussion of films set in the region during the silent era.. 12 Ronald Wright. 2001 Wright, Ronald. 2001. Cut stones and crossroads: A journey in the two worlds of Peru, London: Penguin. [Google Scholar]. Cut Stones and Crossroads: A Journey in the Two Worlds of Peru. London: Penguin. 13 The film Ukamau depicts the mutual distrust and hostility between indigenous Aymara speakers and the mestizo population, using the lake as a telling background. 14 See Schiwy, Freya. 2003 Schiwy, Freya. 2003. Decolonizing the frame. Framework, 44(1): 116–132. [Google Scholar]. Decolonizing the frame. Framework 44(1) 14, 116–132. 15 A term in boyh Aymara and Quechua meaning ‘peeled’ or ‘naked’ and applied to white or mestizo people in view of their perceived cultural poverty. 16 Sosa, Mauricio. 2000 Sosa, Mauricio. 2000. “Review of El triángulo del lago”. In Los Tiempos La Paz (August) [Google Scholar]. Review of El triángulo del lago. Los Tiempos, La Paz (August). 17 Susz, Pedro. 2000 Susz, Pedro. 2000. “Review of El triángulo del lago”. In Revista OH, La Prensa La Paz (August) [Google Scholar]. Review of El triángulo del lago. Revista OH, La Prensa, La Paz (August).