The Lettered Madhouse in 2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Abstract

The article studies the tradicional locus of madhouse present in 2666 (2012) by Roberto Bolaño, but taking into consideration also the desert and the church as spaces where the enunciation of madness is expands: the madman’s truth. To this end, three aspects that configure the heuristic notion of lettered madhouse are analyzed: the digressive diagrams, the phobic philology, and enlightened hospice. In short, it shows how Bolaño elaborates in his novel a critical and ironic vision of Latin American literary intelligentsia or the remnants of The lettered City of Angel Rama.