Los enigmas de Jacinta en Sombras suele vestir, de José Bianco

Abstract

Short novel Sombras suele vestir (1941), by Argentinan writer José Bianco (1908-1986), is a key work of the modern fantasy. Apparently, its argument is structured through the perspective of the story’s main character: Jacinta Vélez, a young prostitute. However, her real existence is surrounds by multiple vague remarks, according to a subtle game of ambiguities, so the story has constant hesitations and reconstructions of textual meaning. The reader is subjected to a series of uncertainties: when does is Jacinta a real character, or when does she acts as a supernatural being, or ghost? Is she perhaps the product of the imagination of Bernardo Stocker, a stockbroker and a Jacinta’s client? Is Jacinta alternately a real character, a ghost, and the pure fantasy of Stocker’s fevered imagination? Therefore, the existence of Jacinta is present as an enigma that the reader must resolve, and a tireless game full of ambiguities.