A Weird, Enmeshed Natural Environment: the New Novela de la Tierra Through an Affectively Econarratological Lens

Abstract

This thesis explores contemporary iterations of the genre of the novela de la tierra through an affectively econarratological lens. It argues that this new novela de la tierra no longer conceives of the relationship between man and the natural environment as dichotomous, but preemptively as enmeshed and intertwined. Using a framework consisting of ecocriticism, narratology and affect theory, three contemporary Argentinian works of cultural production are used as case studies for the new novela de la tierra. They are analyzed on a narratological level, concluding that they use narrative strategies to engage the reader to understand the natural environment in this new, enmeshed manner.