Hacer propio lo ajeno: subjetividad y reconciliación en La voluntad del molle

Abstract

Several recent Peruvian novels related to the armed conflict experienced in the country in the 1980s and 1990s propose models of social reconciliation that, according to literary critics such as Gabriel Saxton-Ruiz, Víctor Vích and Dante Castro, are insufficient to redress the social flaws that were highlighted during the period of political violence, namely the racism and indifference towards the indigenous communities that experimented most of the atrocities. The novel La voluntad del molle (2006) by Cuzco-born Karina Pacheco Medrano positions itself outside of these models and presents a reconciliatory strategy that not only seeks to symbolically get closer to the indigenous Other who was victim of the violence but also "to make him our own" and to mourn for him. Through the reevaluation of their social relationships and the forging of a strong affective link with Javier (unknown brother who was killed during the conflict) Nena and Elisa, the novel's protagonists experience subjective changes that drive them to challenge their perceptions about the period of political violence, as well as to admit their own responsibility in the chronic racism that characterizes Peruvian society. Drawing from theoretical concepts related to subjectivity and affect, this essay analyzes how the protagonists' questioning of their own social status allegorically constitutes the first step in Peru's path towards reconciliation.