Fragments of a chaotic world: genre hybridism, speed and alternate timing in La novela del cuerpo

Abstract

Taking as a starting point the collapse of the utopian ideal and how 21^st Century Science Fiction is adapting to the victory of neoliberalism since 1989, this paper explores the mechanisms of the most recent Science Fiction written in Spanish by analizing La novela del cuerpo, by Uruguayan author Rafael Courtoisie. Specifically, this paper focuses on three elements: its genre hybridism, its conception of speed and plot interconection and its non-linear timing. Those three features refer to a decentered postmodern world view, where chaos and the lack of horizons prevail.