Back to the Future: Salvador Allende's Steampunk Chile

Authors

  • David Laraway Brigham Young University

Keywords:

Chile, Steampunk, Salvador Allende, Cybersyn, Synco, Alternate History

Abstract

Jorge Baradit’s 2008 steampunk novel Synco asks us to imagine that Pinochet’s coup had not only failed but that Pinochet and Allende had forged a curious political alliance subtended by a complex metaphysical system of esoteric doctrines and practices. I argue in this paper that Baradit’s work of alternative history invites us rethink the coordinates of the contemporary political field in Chile, hinting that contemporary science fiction and steampunk narrative may provide us with an important supplement to more traditional testimonial narratives.

Author Biography

David Laraway, Brigham Young University

David Laraway is Associate Professor of Hispanic Literatures and Cultures and Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Brigham Young University.

Published

2013-10-15

How to Cite

Laraway, D. (2013). Back to the Future: Salvador Allende’s Steampunk Chile. A Contracorriente: Una Revista De Estudios Latinoamericanos, 11(1), 152–169. Retrieved from https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/acontracorriente/article/view/708