Guest of the ilb 2007
Liliana Bodoc was born in Santa
Fe, Argentina in 1958 and grew up in Mendoza. She studied modern
literature at the Universidad Nacional in Cuyo. She has been counted,
since her well-received début »La saga de los Confines. Los días del
Venado« (2000; t: The saga of the frontiers. The days of the deer), the
first of a trilogy, among the most important new voices of the
literature of the fantastic in Spanish. 70,000 copies were sold in
Argentina alone and the book will soon appear in several European
countries. Aside from this fantasy epic, Bodoc has also published
plays, texts for very young readers, and short stories and novels for
children and young adults.
In enchanting and dark images, »La saga de los
Confines« tells the story of a mythical battle in the distant past.
When strange boats set sail with vague intentions, the brotherhood of
free air and the creatures of the fertile countries form the deer
alliance, among them the Husihuilke warrior Dulkancellin and Cucub of
Zitzahay. Supported by the earth magician Kupuka, they go to war
against Misáianes, son of Eternal Hatred, and his army of the old
lands. The author spins her intoxicating tale of the battle for
conquest, survival and freedom – in which the boundaries between good
and evil blur and at whose end stands the decline of an age – with
interwoven historical and fantastical narrative elements set against
the backdrop of the Aztec, Maya and Mapuche cultures. On comparisons of
her work with J.R.R. Tolkien, the author replies, »Tolkien's epic is
anchored in an opposite reality; it is a truly European epic,
Eurocentric, monarchist. His work and mine embody entirely different
cosmic visions: Tolkien writes from the point of view of the powerful,
I write from the point of view of the ›abandoned‹.« Bodoc captivates as
a haunting storyteller who masterfully succeeds in merging collective
experiences such as repression and war with the intimate and private
lives of her protagonists. In bringing attention to their fears and
doubts she consciously distances herself from the classical archetypes
of the fantasy epic and breaks with models of the genre. This is one
reason why the magazine »Página/12« stated that »her novels are
probably the best books ever written in Spanish in the genre of the
fantasy epic«.
Liliana Bodoc recently published »Memorias
impuras. Los padres« (2007; t: Impure memories. Parents), the first
volume of a two-part novel. Among the distinctions received for »Los
días del Venado« were the Premio Feria de Buenos Aires (2000) and
inclusion in the IBBY Honour List (2002). The first part of the
»Confines« saga and the sequel »Los días del Sombra« (2006; t: The days
of the shadow) were furthermore awarded the Premio Calidoscopio (2003)
by the Banco del Libro de Venezuela. Liliana Bodoc is married and lives
in Buenos Aires.
© international literature festival berlin
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