My first emotion while reading Roberto Bolano’s Distant Star was shock—the author does not paint the portrait of the artist as a relatively favourable position in Chilean society, but rather bleak by contrast. Through censorship, disappearances and political violence—both overtly depicted as well as presented in artistic mediums in the case of Carlos Weider—the artistic representation Bolano provides is that of the artist as a truth teller in society who, in their mastery of drawing up popular sentiment and disillusionment, is equally seen as “dangerous” by totalitarian governments. It is in the revolutionary role of the artist in society that creation is outlined as a fruitless, but also a necessary one. 

    I especially enjoyed the historical context given by the lectures. Before starting this course, 1980s Chile was a country I knew little about–much less the Latin American region as a whole!–and I can safely say I have acquired a greater understanding of its geopolitical events than before. “The Wave of Democratisation” which began with the collapse of the Agentinian dictatorship in 1983; Brazil in 1985; Paraguay in 1993; to the stretching home of Roberto Bolano’s novel was very intriguing to learn about: the quasi-domino effect which would change lives not only on-the-ground, but abstract realms in literature as well. The parallel drawn between barbarity and literature strikes me as a truthful one. Despite platitudes which tell us the pen is mightier than the sword, I wonder if artists see themselves as living by the sword, and often dying by it when they are repressed by governments. Is this the uncertain artistic license Bolano seems to point us towards with Carlos Weider in the novel? 

    In terms of my opinion of Weider, I found the avant-garde ambiguity of his art an intriguing theme. There is no telling whether or not the subjects of the photos are meant to be a condemnation endorsement, or simply provoke in an apolitical fashion. To think that simple photos can tell one so much, yet reveal so little about intent, is therefore what makes the medium both opaque and transparent in the eyes of cultural critics. The adage “a picture says a thousand word” reveals the importance of photography as capturing a moment to change minds; in turn, it also reveals the danger it poses to authoritarian regimes who wish to control the popular narrative. Raul Zurita, as mentioned in the lecture, is a prominent real world example of this figure who lives by this standard. With the Marshall McLuhan belief that the medium is the message, he wishes to have eyes turned upwards towards the sky in a figurative wish for escape from their plights, but also a literary one. 

    My question for the class is in what way does Bolano play into, or subvert, our portrait of the artist? In what ways might it change during authoritarian rule and how might censorship assist in eliminating dissent? S