Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to propose a dialogue between Bolaño's work and Bergson's theory about comicity. Taking that into account, it is intended to show that the satirical sense of the novel is to move to a reflection about the intelectual field and the proposal of an ethical and aesthetical evolution.

Paper long abstract:

This paper intends to establish a dialogue between Bergson's "Le rire" and Bolaño's "Nocturno de Chile", so as to shed light on the aspect of comicality as a regulator of the moral of a society, as the french philosopher states in his book.

Bolaño's novel depicts some parts of a chilean priest's life and his appealing to the conservative right of the dictatorship, his participation in some literary salons and his trip to Europe to study conservation techniques for the churchs. In this single-paragraph novel the author presents satirically the intelectual field (as Bordieu defines it) in Chile during the decades of the 70's and 80's.

Taking this into account, i'll intend to propose that the irony and the satire concealed in Bolaño's novel aims to subvert the literary discourse that prevaled during those decades and, through the dark humor of Bolaño's prose, the author pretends to depict the intelectual field of that time and critique it and propose a tension through satire and irony which resolves in an aesthetical-ethical change so as to overcome the "shitty storm", the phrase that closes the novel and symbolizes the situation of Chile (culturally, literarily) during Pinochet's dictatorship.