The Fantastic Peripheral: Towards a Repertoire of the Unclasiffiable in Francisco Tario’s “La noche de los cincuenta libros”

Abstract

Fantastic literature derives in manifestations that do not always conform to its classical features, so it is necessary to broaden its approaches. For this reason, it is proposed to analyze “La noche de los cincuenta libros”, short story by Francisco Tario, and the way in which it possesses and surpasses the properties of the fantastic. For this purpose, a succinct review of the genre’s corresponding features (such as nominal transgression and indeterminacy, based on the theories of Oviedo Pérez de Tudela, Jackson, and Ordiz Alonso-Collada, to access its excess features (where adaptation of the narrative microcosm and breaking of the horizon of expectation are included, based on the contributions of Barrenechea, Roas, and Iser). The foregoing exhibits the partial belonging of the story to the fantastic, as well as its peripheral condition. In addition, it allows its integration into the literary repertoire that we have called “fantastic peripheral” whose main characteristic is the effective transgression, which we also propose as an excess feature.