THE INCENDIARY VOICES OF ALIMAPU: DISASTER AND NEOLIBERALISM IN ROSA ALCAYAGA’S “VALPARAÍSO ARDIENDO” (2015)

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which Rosa Alcayaga’s long chronicle-poem “Valparaíso ardiendo” (2015), later published in the volume Electroshock (2017), proposes a radical interpretation of the historical and ongoing processes of destruction of the city of Valparaíso illuminated by the latest large-scale fire there in 2014. Instead of focusing exclusively on the emotional appeal “Valparaíso ardiendo” makes to its readers, I rather discuss how the poem highlights some of the structural conditions that have impacted its most vulnerable citizens: its intensified destruction under a market regime that makes most social and political decisions, the almost complete disappearance of social protection for the marginalised inhabitants of its informal settlements and the construction of a deeply segregated neoliberal city. Ultimately, this article aims to show how Alcayaga’s incendiary creation raises a critical, unofficial discourse that advocates for the right to a dignified life, exposing the ways in which local, regional, and national political powers operate under market capitalism