Falsificación y literatura. La levedad del escritor múltiple: el caso de Bolívar Coronado

Abstract

The counterfeit works of Rafael Bolívar Coronado (1884–1924) represent a phenomenon with unusual repercussions on critical reception. This author managed to publish more than twelve volumes with false authorship and content, from “crónicas de Indias” to collections of poetry. This article presents a theoretical approach regarding literary falsification in general and highlights the concepts of lightness and multiplicity to propose an interpretation of the Bolívar Coronado case. This paper also deals with the artistic dimension of literary forgeries as creative works that use the same methods and strategies as fiction writing. The set of falsified works by this author can be interpreted as a conceptual proposal that questions the functioning of the literary field of his time. Likewise, his proposal can also be framed within the cultural criticism that the forgery tradition entails: it questions not only the difficult discernment between the concepts of truth and lies, but also the rigidity of some guardians of cultural institutions and the system of legitimation, awards, and literary reviews.