“Bésame otra vez”: The Use of Obscenity to Denounce Violence in Pedro Lemebel’s Incontables (1986)

Abstract

‘“Bésame otra vez’: The Use of Obscenity to Denounce Violence in Pedro Lemebel’s Incontables” examines the role of obscenity in Pedro Lemebel’s Incontables (1986). Through my analysis of four short stories – “Ella entró por la ventana del baño”, “Bramadero”, “Monseñor” and “Bésame otra vez forastero” – I define obscenity in two related and mutually imbricated yet contradictory ways. First, I consider the radical potential of obscenity as excess. Obscenity, in this case, means unsatiated illicit sexual desire and excess of dirt/filth/ lo sucio. I am particularly interested in Lemebel’s neobarroso writing style to connote excess and “lo sucio” in what I define as the obscene. In many ways, what makes sexuality and lo sucio obscene is their excess and how their extremity elicits affective responses of excitement or repulsion in the reader. At the same time, it is the excess of power, violence, and state neglect that framed Pinochet’s dictatorship. In the stories, we also see how the extremity of state violence permeates and transforms into quotidian acts of gendered violence throughout Chile. This second form of obscene represents the absurdity of the regime’s power in its enactment of violence, pain, and ultimately, death.