Literacy Machines: Writing and Politics in Latin America

Most discussions of the relationship between politics and writing touch on the concept of hegemony: the notion that power works by seeking consent through culture as much as it depends upon threats of force, implicit or otherwise. This notion is especially prevalent in discussions of Latin American literature and culture, where writing and power have been especially closely interlinked since the Spanish conquest. Jon Beasley-Murray will argue for a post-hegemonic understanding of the social function of literature in Latin America (and, by extension, elsewhere), that is, one that does without this dichotomy of consent plus coercion. Taking examples from canonical authors such as Jorge Luis Borges and José María Arguedas, his talk will outline instead a literary mechanics of affect, habit and the multitude.