THE MORTAL POWER OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN “SO FEARED A HELL” (1957) BY JUAN CARLOS ONETTI

Abstract

In this study we analyze the role of photography in the short story “El infierno tan temido” (“So Feared a Hell”) by Uruguayan writer Juan Carlos Onetti (1909-1994). In this way, this paper departs from the vast majority of critical approaches to this story centered on the issue of evil or misogyny. Even when it relates photography to these topics, this study finds its starting point in a fragment of the book La cámara lúcida (1980) by Roland Barthes, which offers a first key to reflect on the presence and meaning of images in this Onetti’s tale. The “catastrophic” character of any photography runs from beginning to end the development of the story, closely linked to its “mortal power”.