The horrorific sound in "Las voladoras" by Mónica Ojeda

Abstract

This article proposes to study the concept of the “horrísono” (horrific sound) in the short story “Las voladoras” by the Ecuadorian writer Mónica Ojeda, with the aim of exploring the relationship between the sound component of the narrative and a particular emotion: fear. The incorporation of disturbing and unsettling sounds, both their production and their perception, plays a specific role in the story: they alert the characters to the presence of an approaching danger and, at the same time, reveal what remains silent and buried in the family home. Far from diminishing its intensity, the brevity of the story amplifies its emotional impact by condensing fear and tension into just a few pages, heightening the sense of oppression and urgency that permeates the narrative. To delve deeper into these aspects, this study will draw on research focused on the affective dimension in literature, as well as a detailed study of fear to decipher how this emotion operates and examine its insertion in Ojeda’s narrative.