Being Nothing and Nobody Nowhere is When Writing Starts

A medio borrar as a Fictionalized Autopoesis

Abstract

This paper aims to explore some aesthetic traits of fictionalization in the short novel A medio borrar by the Argentinian author Juan José Saer. By means of examining its main thematic elements and identifying their corresponding narrative techniques, the short novel will emerge as a fictional showcase of the creative principles that govern Saer when is comes to the “art of narration”. The first part of this paper elaborates on the thematization of the poetics of self-destruction and traces the steps that will lead to a completely annuled consciousness, articulated as a prerequisite of authentic writing. In the second section, I examine elements that demonstrate Saer’s conviction as for his negation of the autonomy of the literary work per se. In the last part I intend to analyze the narrative techniques Saer uses to expose and resolve his artistic dilemma about perception and the impossibility of representing reality.