ELEMENTOS GóTICOS EN UNA CASA VACíA DE CARLOS CERDA

this article is an analysis of una casa vacía (1996), a novel written by the chilean author carlos cerda. this analysis is based upon the identification of elements of the gothic imaginary at different levels of this narrative. the functioning of these elements is studied within the basically realistic frame of the novel, in order to establish the permeable boundaries between testimonial narrative, the official history and its metaphorizations. the ultimate allegory that the novel builds around a former torture house and its inhabitants finds its correspondence with the final period of the military dictatorship (1973-1989) and the torture practices carried by government organizations against civilians. nevertheless, this article tries to show the difficulty of testimonial realism in order to write a novel about the suffering and decadence of the chilean society of the period, without succumbing to a manichean concept of the narrative function.