Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Violencia, Memoria Y Empatía Reflexiva En El Ruido De Las Cosas Al Caer De Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Carlos Gardeazábal Bravo

Global Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this article, I show how Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s novel El ruido de las cosas al caer (The Sound of Things Falling, 2011) proposes an articulation of the works of memory and affects that can be ethically relevant within the context of the war on drugs in Colombia. I link this analysis with an interpretation of the novel that discusses the role of literature in debates about systemic violence in the global war on drugs. I propose that The noise of things falling, thanks to its affirmation of what I call reflexive empathy, questions the geopolitical designs that articulate that …