Acceso usuarios
Javier Pavez
This paper proposes that translation and secrecy shape the narrative fabric of La ciudad ausenteby Ricardo Piglia, as the possibility of a certain resistance or disobedience inscribed at the center of the sovereignty of the law. Based on Piglia’s quasi-schematic division between ‘enigma,’‘mystery,’and ‘secret,’the notion of the ‘short novel’or nouvelleis put into play. The secret, as the form of the nouvelle, does not pertain to a meaning that can be deciphered or unveiled, nor to the configuration of an element that is unintelligible due to a lack of explanation. Rather, the differential modulation operates through a semantic and syntactic reconfiguration that requires the resources of cutting, editing, and montage–in short, the interruption of narrative sequences–. In this sense, the notion of the ‘secret’(from secernĕre) touches on that of ‘secretion’.If the institution aims to erect the constitution of a certain interiority, the secret (itself) threatens as a surface effect of a setback, as a split enclave–divided or exterior within the interior–. The secret secretes. Just as Respiración artificialplays witha fractured semantics, La ciudad ausente assumes the ‘secret’as a mode of exposition. The concepts of concern, discernment, sifting, unearthing, secretion, excretion, discretion, and crime are all entangled here. The narrative is minimal, precisely to the extent that it remains within a configuration that does not depend on meaning–that is, to the extent that it (itself) holds to something that redoubles linear narration through the juxtaposition of stories told in secret, and according to secretions that displace and expose it–. La ciudad ausentestrikes at the regime of representation from within, strikes to the grotesque representation of power. Thus, complot is also tied to the plot–as ‘argument’,‘scenario’,‘action’,‘weft’, ‘story’,‘intrigue’and ‘scheme’–as well as to the act of plotting: to draw, trace, or lay out. Piglia translates the plane as resistance, as counter-conspiracy. He makes the counter-intrigue function among the white knots. Translation, complot, and secrecy thus compose the plot in La ciudad ausente.
El artículo propone que la traducción y el secreto configuran la trama narrativa de La ciudad ausente de Ricardo Piglia, como la posibilidad de cierta resistencia o desobediencia inscrita en centro la soberanía de la ley. A partir de la división cuasi-esquemática entre “enigma”, “misterio” y “secreto” esgrimida por Piglia, se pone en juego la noción misma de “novela corta” o “nouvelle”. El secreto como la forma de la nouvelle, no atañe a un sentido que se puede descifrar o develar, ni a la configuración de un elemento que no se comprende porque no tiene explicación. Así, la modulación diferencial no pasa sino por una reconfiguración semántica y sintáctica que exige los recursos del corte, edición, y montaje, con todo, la interrupción de secuencias narrativas. Ahí, la cuestión del “secreto” (de secernĕre), se toca con la “secreción”. Si la institución pretende erigir la constitución de un cierto adentro, el secreto (se) amenaza como el efecto de superficie de un contratiempo, como un enclave escindido, divido o exterior en su interior. El secreto secreta. Así como Respiración artificial bordea una semántica accidentada, La ciudad ausente asume el “secreto” como modo de exposición. Se tocan concernir, discernimiento, cribar, escarbar, secreción, excretar, discreto, crimen. El relato es mínimo, justamente en la medida en que resta en una configuración que no depende del sentido, es decir, en la medida en que (se) mantiene (en) algo que redobla la narración lineal en virtud de una yuxtaposición de historias que se narran en secreto, y según secreciones que la apartan y la exponen. La ciudad ausente le asesta un golpe interno a la representación ubuesca del poder, de modo que el complot aparece también vinculado con el plot, es decir, con el “argumento”, la “trama”, la historia, la intriga, y con el trazar. Piglia traduce el plano como resistencia, como contra-conspiración, la contra-intriga entre los nudos blancos. Traducción, complot y secreto, así, componen la trama en La ciudad ausente.
This paper proposes that translation and secrecy shape the narrative fabric of La ciudad ausente by Ricardo Piglia, as the possibility of a certain resistance or disobedience inscribed at the center of the sovereignty of the law. Based on Piglia’s quasi-schematic division between “enigma,” “mystery,” and “secret,” the notion of the “short novel” or nouvelle is put into play. The secret, as the form of the nouvelle, does not pertain to a meaning that can be deciphered or unveiled, nor to the configuration of an element that is unintelligible due to a lack of explanation. Rather, the differential modulation operates through a semantic and syntactic reconfiguration that requires the resources of cutting, editing, and montage—in short, the interruption of narrative sequences. In this sense, the notion of the “secret” (from secernĕre) touches on that of “secretion.” If the institution aims to erect the constitution of a certain interiority, the secret (itself) threatens as a surface effect of a setback, as a split enclave—divided or exterior within the interior. The secret secretes. Just as Respiración artificial plays with a fractured semantics, La ciudad ausente assumes the “secret” as a mode of exposition. The concepts of concern, discernment, sifting, unearthing, secretion, excretion, discretion, and crime are all entangled here. The narrative is minimal, precisely to the extent that it remains within a configuration that does not depend on meaning—that is, to the extent that it (itself) holds to something that redoubles linear narration through the juxtaposition of stories told in secret, and according to secretions that displace and expose it. La ciudad ausente strikes at the regime of representation from within, strikes to the grotesque representation of power. Thus, complot is also tied to the plot—as “argument,” “scenario,” “action,” “weft,” “story,” “intrigue,” and “scheme”—as well as to the act of plotting: to draw, trace, or lay out. Piglia translates the plane as resistance, as counter-conspiracy. He makes the counter-intrigue function among the white knots. Translation, complot, and secrecy thus compose the plot in La ciudad ausente.
