The Representation Of Power In The Recent Latin American Novel Of The Dictator

The novel of the dictator has had a long and unique tradition in Latin American literature and it parallels the founding of the majority of Latin American countries in the early decades of the nineteenth century. In this dissertation I study three recent contributions to this genre: La fiesta del Chivo (2000) by Mario Vargas Llosa, El seductor de la patria (1999) by Enrique Serna and Tengo miedo torero (2001) by Pedro Lemebel. My objective is to analyze the ways in which these novelists have chosen to represent the dictators power. If dictators are, by definition, figures who closely control their societies, then how have these three authors chosen to represent this dictatorial power? I seek to answer this relevant question by contextualizing my arguments in the socio-political and historical context in which these novels were written, a period which is often termed postdictatorial or transition in spite of the uneven developments of democratic societies in Latin America. I will signal that while there is little disagreement regarding the negative impacts of dictatorial power, these three novelists have taken distinct approaches to delineating the modes in which the individual—be it the author himself or his protagonist—may respond to it. While Vargas Llosa chooses to write a total novel detailing the totalitarian power that Rafael Leonidas Trujillo wielded in the Dominican Republic for three decades, Serna takes a finely developed parodic tack in portraying a pathetic Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in Mexico. Lemebels critique goes further than Sernas and depicts Augusto Pinochet in Chile as a frightened, old recluse relegated to the backstage of the action while a transvestite homosexual takes center stage and represents a hopeful postdictatorial society. I will show that in the three novels there is a steadily increasing critical stance towards the dictator. Using an eclectic theoretical approach, my analyses of the texts demonstrate how the…