Historiographic Metafiction and the Metaphysical Detective in Roberto Bolaño’s Amulet

Authors

• Rhys William Tyers

Publication Date

2021

Abstract

Roberto Bolaño’s Amulet explores the writing of history as an attempt to construct a narrative from a multitude of unreliable and conflicting sources. As a result, any attempt at historiography is also plagued by the problems of representation found in literature. More particularly, not unlike detective fiction, history is concerned with identifying the inspirations and actions of its players and with revealing the truth about an episode or series of episodes, using historical information, all of which may or may not be reliable. By examining the relationship between the historical and the fictional in Amulet this paper will discuss Bolaño’s use of the tropes of metaphysical detective fiction and how they help foreground the difficulties posed by historical facts by reinventing them in fiction. This will, in turn, highlight the intersection between detective fiction and historiographic metafiction and how by combining these two genres writers can reimagine historical contexts and find new meanings and significance.

DOI

10.1163/26659077-24020005

First Page

270

Last Page

287

Recommended Citation

William Tyers, Rhys (2021) "Historiographic Metafiction and the Metaphysical Detective in Roberto Bolaño’s Amulet," Manusya, Journal of Humanities: Vol. 24: No. 2, Article 5.
DOI: 10.1163/26659077-24020005
Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/manusya/vol24/iss2/5