Description
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Der Diktatorenroman ist ein zentrales Genre der politischen Literatur in Lateinamerika. Aber was bedeutet in diesem konkreten Fall die Rede von "politischer Literatur"? Die betrachteten Erzähltexte kritisieren nicht nur die Machenschaften von kriminellen Alleinherrschern, sondern thematisieren nicht minder die Verfahren der politischen Inszenierung und die Weise, auf welche der Diktator in ein Feld politischer Sichtbarkeit gezogen wird. Dieser beobachtet nicht nur selbst, er wird auch gesehen. Die Kalkulationen und Unfälle solcher Inszenierungsformen verweisen auf die Person des Alleinherrschers, dabei insbesondere auf seinen Körper. Dieser lässt sich als symbolischer Bezugspunkt von Regimen auffassen, und seine Gefährdung durch Krankheit, Attentat oder Tod stellt eine existentielle Destabilisierung seines Regimes dar. Diese Zusammenhänge sind zentrales Thema in den Diktatorenromanen von Gabriel García Márquez, Alejo Carpentier und Augusto Roa Basto, die in diesem Essay betrachtet werden.
The dictator novel is a central genre of political literature in Latin America. But what does the term "political literature" mean in this case? The narrative texts considered here not only criticize the machinations of criminal autocrats; they also display the procedures of political staging and the way in which the dictator is drawn into a field of political visibility. He not only observes himself, he is also observed by others. The calculations and accidents of such forms of staging refer to the person of the autocrat, in particular to his body. This can be understood as a symbolic point of reference for regimes, and its endangerment by illness, assassination or death represents an existential threat of destabilization for his regime. These connections are central themes in the dictatorial novels by Gabriel García Márquez, Alejo Carpentier and Augusto Roa Basto, which are examined in this essay.
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The dictator novel is a central genre of political literature in Latin America. But what does the term "political literature" mean in this case? The narrative texts considered here not only criticize the machinations of criminal autocrats; they also display the procedures of political staging and the way in which the dictator is drawn into a field of political visibility. He not only observes himself, he is also observed by others. The calculations and accidents of such forms of staging refer to the person of the autocrat, in particular to his body. This can be understood as a symbolic point of reference for regimes, and its endangerment by illness, assassination or death represents an existential threat of destabilization for his regime. These connections are central themes in the dictatorial novels by Gabriel García Márquez, Alejo Carpentier and Augusto Roa Basto, which are examined in this essay.
