MODERNITY AND FANTASTIC LITERATURE: JOSÉ FÉLIX FUENMAYOR AND UNA TRISTE AVENTURA DE 14 SABIOS

This essay examines the origins of the fantastic literature in Colombia by analyzing José Félix Fuenmayor novel, Una triste aventura de 14 sabios. I argue that the emergence and consolidation of the fantastic have their origins in a paradoxical experience with modernity. I explore how Fuenmayor’s literary creation was not only impacted by a historically conflicting condition produced by the rise of modern subjectivity, but also by the incorporation of different cultural artifacts into his literary aesthetics.