{"id":1297,"date":"2024-05-10T11:57:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T15:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2024-05-19T16:46:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T20:46:13","slug":"post-3-progreso-historico-en-chilean-electric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/country\/chile\/post-3-progreso-historico-en-chilean-electric\/","title":{"rendered":"Post #3: Progreso Hist\u00f3rico en Chilean Electric"},"content":{"rendered":"

Como ya he mencionado un poco en mis posts anteriores, la luz y la electrificaci\u00f3n literal de Chile tiene varios significados dentro del libro\u202f<\/span>Chilean Electric<\/span><\/i>, pero para m\u00ed, su gran importancia en el libro viene de su funcionamiento como un s\u00edmbolo de una cierta especie de progreso que se buscaba en el Chile del siglo XX.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Durante el transcurso de la obra, Nona Fern\u00e1ndez identifica tanto el poder de esta visi\u00f3n de progreso\u2014ilustrado en la primera escena de asombro en La Plaza de las Armas\u2014como sus fallas. Para Fern\u00e1ndez, esta electrificaci\u00f3n de Chile, en un sentido tecnol\u00f3gico y metaf\u00f3rico, no sirve para iluminar a todos. Vemos las consecuencias de esta visi\u00f3n incompleta de progreso y de la electrificaci\u00f3n en todos los lugares en el libro\u2014en las guerras sobre los recursos naturales, los altos precios de electricidad hoy en d\u00eda y los desaparecidos que llenan las p\u00e1ginas. La electrificaci\u00f3n se vuelve enorme como met\u00e1fora, se\u00f1alando tanto un proceso tecnol\u00f3gico como un gran proyecto para Chile de formarse una identidad nacional muy espec\u00edfica basada en los principales fundamentales del neoliberalismo, importados a Chile desde los Estados Unidos.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bajo de la dictadura de Pinochet, el gobierno prometi\u00f3 una econom\u00eda fuerte, libre, y abierto, usando el poder del gobierno para privatizar muchas empresas estatales que proven\u00edan servicios b\u00e1sicos como el agua, la energ\u00eda y especialmente en este caso, la electricidad. En realidad, esta dictadura neoliberalista us\u00f3 la fuerza militar para gobernar, torturando y matando miles de ciudadanos; crey\u00f3 una gran desigualdad econ\u00f3mica con sus pol\u00edticas; y hizo que estos servicios b\u00e1sicos como la electricidad, un dato que mencione Fern\u00e1ndez, son muy costosos\u2014entre otras cosas.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me encanta como Fern\u00e1ndez define la luz y la electrificaci\u00f3n en\u202f<\/span>Chilean Electric.<\/span><\/i>\u202fAl usar definiciones muy matizadas de estos conceptos, ella puede hacer un comentario muy espec\u00edfico e inteligente: En vez de rechazar la inspiraci\u00f3n de la luz y el progreso enteramente, Fern\u00e1ndez identifica los elementos problem\u00e1ticos de la b\u00fasqueda de progreso en el pasado, pero mantiene una fe en la posibilidad de una nueva luz que pueda iluminar todo para tod@s. (Ver el post anterior para ver una discusi\u00f3n m\u00e1s detallada de este momento.)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>De esta manera, Fern\u00e1ndez nos propone una versi\u00f3n diferente de lo que puede significar el progreso. Su capacidad de criticar la historia y dar luz a las sombras que han sido escondidas al mismo tiempo que mantiene una gran esperanza para el futuro es impresionante. Hay muchos libros que tratan de temas parecidos, de la memoria hist\u00f3rica y de lidiar con la pesadez del pasado, pero no he encontrado otro que haya conseguido esta equivalencia como\u202f<\/span>Chilean Electric.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Ingl\u00e9s:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I’ve mentioned a bit in my previous posts, the literal light and electrification of Chile hold various meanings within the book <\/span>Chilean Electric<\/span><\/i>, but for me, their significant importance in the book comes from functioning as a symbol of a certain kind of progress sought in 20th century Chile.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the course of the work, Nona Fern\u00e1ndez identifies both the power of this vision of progress\u2014illustrated in the initial scene of awe in La Plaza de las Armas\u2014as well as its failures. For Fern\u00e1ndez, this electrification of Chile, in both a technological and metaphorical sense, fails to illuminate everyone. We see the consequences of this incomplete vision of progress and electrification in all the places in the book\u2014through wars over natural resources, today’s high electricity prices, and the disappeared people filling the pages. Electrification becomes enormous as a metaphor, signaling both a technological process and the beginning of a long road to the formation of a national identity based on the ideals of progress, and eventually the principles of Neoliberal dogma.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under Pinochet’s dictatorship, the government promised a strong, free, and open economy, using government power to privatize many state-owned enterprises that provided basic services such as water, energy, and especially in this case, electricity. In reality, this neoliberal dictatorship used military force to govern, torturing and killing thousands of citizens; it created significant economic inequality with its policies; and it made these basic services like electricity, a fact mentioned by Fern\u00e1ndez, very costly\u2014along with the rise of many other economic and social problems.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I love how Fern\u00e1ndez defines light and electrification in <\/span>Chilean Electric<\/span><\/i>. By using nuanced definitions of these concepts, she can make a very specific and intelligent commentary: Instead of entirely rejecting the inspiration of light and progress, Fern\u00e1ndez identifies the problematic elements of past progress-seeking but maintains faith in the possibility of a new light that can illuminate everything for everyone. (See the previous post for a more detailed discussion of this moment.)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this way, Fern\u00e1ndez proposes a different version of what progress can mean. Her ability to critique history and shed light on the shadows that have been hidden while maintaining great hope for the future is impressive. There are many books that deal with similar themes of historical memory and grappling with the weight of the past, but I have not found another that achieves this equivalence like <\/span>Chilean Electric<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nona Fern\u00e1ndez, Chilean electric ([Chile]\u202f: Alquimia Ediciones, 2015)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Como ya he mencionado un poco en mis posts anteriores, la luz y la electrificaci\u00f3n literal de Chile tiene varios significados dentro del libro\u202fChilean Electric, pero para m\u00ed, su gran importancia en el libro viene de su funcionamiento como un… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1622,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,46,28,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chile","category-chilean-electric","category-nona-fernandez","category-resenas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1622"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/hispanic-studies-3257-spring-2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}