“[T]he privileged horror…of the constellation”: Cortazar’s use of the Gothic in 62: A Model Kit

The main external evidence for the Argentine writer, Julio Cortazar’s relationship to the Gothic lies in the fascinating essay, “Notes sur le Gothique vu du Rio de la Plata”, which he wrote for the famous Cahiers de l’Herne issue on Romantisme Noir. In that piece, he describes the fantastique tradition of the writers from the river River Plate, which links Argentina and Uruguay: Lugones, Quiroga, Borges, Adolfo Bioy, Silvina Ocampo and Felisberto Hernandez. Cortazar invokes the cultural isola...