Ecological Imaginations in Latin American Fiction

4. Futuristic Narratives and the Crisis of Place

Chapter 4 Futuristic Narratives and the Crisis of Place Crisis of place is the last chapter in the story of modernity, according to the futuristic narratives included in this chapter. The Costa Rican authors of Chapter 3 portrayed neoliberal economic models as advancing menaces to society, but the authors of futuristic tales peer into the future and predict a society these same models will have driven into an ecoapocalypse in the twenty-first century.¿En quién piensas cuando haces el amor? (1996) by Mexican author Homero Aridjis and Waslala (1996) by Nicaraguan writer Gioconda Belli are both futuristic narratives grounded in troubles presently felt or feared in Latin America. The ecological imaginations of Aridjis and Belli take readers to the brink of an apocalypse precipated by the inexorable logic of markets and the definitive chasm between wealthy and poor in the world. At the same time, each author plumbs ancient and recent Latin American history for alternative models of being and regeneration. Aridjis and Belli take present-day realities and project them forward in time and scope to argue that the ultimate, logical outcome of modernization is a failed society in a ravaged landscape. Aridjis offers an urban narrative set in a fictionalized Mexico City and anchored in Mexican mythology. For her part, Belli locates her story in the rural tropics, in a fictionalized Nicaragua. Poetic and revolutionary traditions inspire her representation of crisis and restoration. In these narratives, Aridjis and Belli envision a crisis of self and place. 140 • Ecological Imaginations in Latin American Fiction Human societies approach a point of no return in a world in the throes of environmental crisis. Both authors link societal well-being to the health of ecosystems. Their critique of modernity features sick societies locked in exploitatiave relationships to the natural world. Boredom, alienation, and violence proliferate among people out of touch with the ecological sublime. Interestingly , though, both novels conclude with regenerative gestures inspired by Latin American cultural history. According to this vision, geological, biological , and poetic rhythms undergird life on earth, and an innate biophilia, or natural affinity for life, in human beings offers hope for the renewal of society.1 Contextualizing the Novels Aridjis and Belli profile two different paths of modernization in Latin Amer­ ica; both produce social and environmental crisis. Aridjis portrays the failure of the industrialization and development model in ¿En quién piensas cuando haces el amor? In Waslala, Belli depicts exploitation of Latin America via neocolonialism. Historically, neither model has been conducive to a robust environmental agenda. Indeed, each intensively extracts resources and gen­ erates gross inequality, both locally in Latin America and also on a global scale. Neocolonial economic and social relationships determine reality in Faguas , the fictionalized Nicaragua of Belli’s novel. According to Indian environmentalist Ramachandra Guha, “the age of empire had been governed by the belief that white was superior to brown or black,” and therefore, certain peoples were meant to enjoy material gain and comfort (Environmentalism 65). That belief shapes the neocolonial order in Faguas, too. There, ordinary people struggle to survive fratricidal wars while local strongmen prosper in collusion with wealthy world powers. Faguas supplies oxygen and recreation­ al drugs; it imports out-of-date weaponry and discarded consumer goods. In contrast, in Aridjis’ Moctezuma City, the development dream has run amuck, and the people and environment languish under the toxic skies of the capital. Promoted after the Second World War, during an age of decol­ onization in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, the development model argued that all nations could attain levels of affluence enjoyed in the developed world (Guha 65). Optimistic proponents argued that science and technology Futuristic Narratives and the Crisis of Place • 141 would lead societies out from poverty (Guha 65). Political leaders championed development and mobilized legal, financial, technical, and human resources of the nation-state in pursuit of the dream. Unfortunately, in most of Latin America, corruption and poverty persisted, national debt grew, and the environment became more toxic. In taking on the failures of modernization and the oppression of neocolonialism , Aridjis and Belli call for environmental justice at a global level. According to Robin Morris Collin, Environmental justice challenges the full spectrum of disproportionate impacts which place a toxic boundary around communities of color and vulnerable individuals, making them acceptable sacrifice zones. . . . Many of the same issues raised domestically [in the United States] by the environmental justice movement...