When the Fantastic Meets the Dystopic

“La biblioteca fantasmal” by José María Merino

Abstract

In “La biblioteca fantasmal” (2021), José María Merino creates the fantastic effect by adding aspects of the uncanny to the realistic plot of the story, the protagonist's visit to a Swiss library. On the level of perception, the referential contexts of Zurich and Madrid serve as a backdrop for the hero's encounter with a deceased friend while, on the level of discourse, the structure of the Zurich library strangely coincides with the fictional spaces in some of Borges' texts. Moreover, these same modalities set off a dystopian process: slight modifications in the appearance of the cities mentioned generate a total urban disintegration, which is reflected in a decomposition of literary masterpieces. Compromising both the human future and the narrative itself, the encounter between the fantastic and the dystopian emphasizes the socio-cultural relevance of the story and intensifies the hesitation experienced by the reader.