Violencia y melodrama en la novela colombiana contemporánea

Abstract

The article describes the ways in which some contemporary Colombian novels use different elements of the melodramatic mode to make sense of the country’s social and political turmoil. The historical context of the classic melodrama is comparable to that of contemporary Colombia in that both periods share a generalized feeling of instability, insecurity, and moral ambiguity. The melodramatic mode constitutes a space that strives to resolve the anxieties plaguing these contexts by invoking moral legibility in a world where evil is a real, ineluctable force. In narratives that deal with the various facets of Colombian violence, this moral quest serves to legitimize the entire literary enterprise.