Cosmopolitanism and Neo-Baroque in the Narrative of Adolfo Cárdenas Franco

Abstract

This article analyzes the first stage of Adolfo Cárdenas Franco’s narrative, beginning with the collection of short stories compiled in Fastos marginales (1989) up to his first novel, Periférica Blvd. Ópera rock-ocó (2004). The analysis takes into consideration the use of narrative procedures identified as NeoBaroque and largely used during the so called Latin America’s cosmopolitan period (1880-1940). Cárdenas experiments with the way in which oral representation is spoken in marginal sectors of Bolivian society, especially those from La Paz, and makes use of visual and sound procedures that have a Neo-Baroque dramatic quality. The complex result of the representation demands an active participation by the reader.