Mutation, Extintion and Survival in the short story "La cueva" (2022) by Liliana Colanzi

Abstract

Liliana Colanzi (1981) stands out in contemporary Latin American literature for dealing with the current issues that affect our society. The Bolivian writer delves into ecological topics such as geological evolution, the consequences of nuclear radiation, the exploitation of natural resources, and mass extinctions. At the same time, she exposes the economic precariousness, ignorance, violence, corruption, and machismo. In the short story “La cueva” from the book Ustedes brillan en lo oscuro (2022), the processes of natural selection of the species that inhabit the cave constitute a focal point on the consequences derived from these problems. In this sense, this study examines the representation of the cave as a narrative device that allows a distancing from human subjectivity and vanishes the hierarchical distinction between beings, including humans in the course of evolution. In addition, the focus of the cave allows for a long period of time to be addressed and, therefore, the different cycles of the process of natural selection are highlighted as pivotal elements in this framework. The Darwinian studies posited by Elizabeth Grosz and the semiotics studies of Eduardo Kohn serve as a critical framework to demonstrate the value of the mutation of species and the communication and interrelation in which they move, causing constant changes in their environment.