Two perspectives regarding post-Enlightenment violence: In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh and Nocturno de Chile by Roberto Bolaño

In this article, we review two different visions regarding the relationship between Western Civilization and violence, two strategies used to expose the dark side of Enlightenment and the ways to overcome it. In In an Antique Land (1994), we examine Amitav Ghosh’s attempts to modify the modern/colonialist practice of anthropology, shifting the traditional axis of hegemony and subalternity, deconstructing the fixity of representation, and proposing a new, more horizontal and familiar relation with the Other. In Nocturno de Chile (2000), Roberto Bolaño exhibits how Enlightenment (and literature) has been used to hide and justify the deployment of violence. Also, we attempt to find Bolaño’s exit to that corridor, with apparently no way out.