Imaginaries from the poetry book Cipango by Thomas Harris. Wastelands, repression, and violence on Orompello Street in Concepción

Abstract

This study seeks to present the imaginaries of Orompello Street in Concepción, Chile, described in the poetry book Cipango (1992) by Thomas Harris. To do this, a qualitative interpretive analysis of the collection of poems was carried out through reading cards. It was compared with the historical events that occurred in the place and a semi-structured interview with the author to delve into certain meanings present in the text. The results showed that the urban space and the living present in the story make up a heterotopia transformed into dystopia, located in a timeless context, the product of primordial violence that dates back to the time of the discovery of America and that is reproduced not only by the dictatorship of Pinochet but also by the State in democracy. The inhabitants of this place are immersed in a marginal atmosphere of repression and devastation, transforming the place into a wasteland. These characteristics and events make Orompello Street an uninhabitable place but full of meaning.