In her essay “La narrativa de Diamela Eltit: un nuevo paradigma socio-literario de lectura” (Diamela Eltit’s Narrative: A New Socio-Literary Paradigm for Reading), Eugenia Brito discusses Eltit’s “writing” (l’écriture) in terms of two of her books: Lumpérica [E. Luminata] (her first novel) and Por la patria (For the Homeland). In Brito’s opinion, these books explore subjects and ideas that are representative of both Eltit’s work and the broader Chilean literary scene in the wake of the 1973 coup d’état. During this period, certain writers challenged the dominant models and re-engaged with concepts and themes that were considered off limits by the country’s authoritarian regime. This is how the figures of the lumpen-proletariat, indigenous people, and women emerged. At the same time, Eltit’s “writing” is notable for the literary twists it introduces by positing a new model.

“La narrativa de Diamela Eltit: un nuevo paradigma socio-literario de lectura” (Diamela Eltit’s Narrative: A New Socio-Literary Paradigm for Reading) is one of nine chapters in Eugenia Brito’s Campos minados (literatura post-golpe en Chile) (Minefields [Post-Coup Literature in Chile]) (1990). In her book, Brito compiles and critically reviews works by Chilean writers from the decade following the coup d’état. These writers include Eltit, Juan Luis Martínez, Raúl Zurita, Diego Maquieira, Gonzalo Muñoz, Antonio Gil, Carla Grandi, Carmen Berenguer, and Soledad Fariña. The book’s basic premise is that this generation’s “writing” is characterized by its critical and reflexive nature and its “resistance” to the oppressive dictatorial circumstances in which its members were writing.

In this chapter, Brito, a writer and university professor, discusses the first two books published by Diamela Eltit (b. 1949): Lumpérica [E. Luminata] (1983) and Por la patria (For the Homeland) (1986). Both were written at a time when the rampant violence of the Pinochet military regime (1973–90) impacted daily life in Chile at every level, a reality that Eltit sought to convey in her portrayals of marginalization and subordination. She is known for her writing and for having been a member of the art action group known as Colectivo Acciones de Arte. Members of CADA came from many disciplines and included the writers Diamela Eltit and Raúl Zurita, the artist Lotty Rosenfeld, the sociologist Fernando Balcells, and the artist Juan Castillo. From 1979 to 1985, the group produced a number of art actions aimed at specific communities and the broader population, condemning widespread social and political conditions in Chile that the government’s official propaganda failed to mention. Eltit’s involvement in this group put her in touch with the visual art world. She was awarded the Premio Nacional de Literatura in 2018.