Towards a poetics of space (the house) in Latin-American short story from the 60s to today: Julio Ramón Ribeyro, Julio Cortázar y Cecilia Eudave

Abstract

The study of the symbols associated to the space is an especially relevant point of view for its potential when it comes to explain different literary paths. This article deals with three short stories: “Casa tomada” (1946), by Julio Cortázar, “Los gallinazos sin plumas” (1954) by Julio Ramón Ribeyro, and “Eva entró por la ventana” (2010), by Cecilia Eudave. The three of them are paradigmatic for their representation of space: the house vs. the outside world, and its connection to the question of the self and personal identity. This approach reveals an essential evolutionary process in Latin American short story from the sixties to today. From Argentina, Peru and Mexico, there is a temporal distance of fifty years between the dates of publication of Cortázar’s and Ribeyro’s stories and the one by Eudave. These three short stories are a significant example of the dialog that is established between today’s literature and Latin-American narrative tradition, taking into account two of the most important exponents in the second half of the 20th century.