Social Corpse and Individual Body: Cannibalism and Territory in Heriberto Yépez Al otro lado

Abstract

In the novel Al otro lado, by Heriberto Yepez, marked, wounded and mangled bodies can be interpreted as metaphors of the social corpse that has lost its unity and sense, as well as of the destruction of the territory, that leads to the annihilation of the citizens, in an infinite chain. The same narrative elements can also be studied through Julia Kristeva's theory of the abyection, with a focus less linked to the actuality. Text elements  —such as cannibalism and the figure of the mother — suggests the possibility of integrating the two readings for a more complete understanding of the novel.