The dystopian configuration of Iménez from gadamerian philosophical hermeneutics: event of horizon fusion and critical self-understanding of the historical present

Abstract

It is proposed to analyze, from Gadamerian philosophical hermeneutics, the dystopian configuration of Iménez as an event of horizon fusion that enables the critical self-understanding of the historical present. From a hermeneutic perspective of philosophical-literary analysis, reading is conceived as an interpretive event in which the horizon of meaning of the text enters into dialogue with the historical horizon of the reader. The study examines how the narrative universe of Ciudad Andina symbolically reorganizes diverse contemporary sociohistorical tendencies, intensifying them within the reflective space of dystopian fiction. The results show that the dystopia represented in Iménez is a form of hermeneutic intensification of the present that makes visible historical dynamics which, in everyday experience, tend to be naturalized or remain outside the field of critical reflection. Dystopian narrative is configured as an interpretive device that contributes to expanding the reader’s horizon of understanding, by fostering a process of horizon fusion between the narrative world of the work and the sociohistorical experience of the interpreter. It is concluded that dystopian literature possesses significant philosophical potential insofar as it enables processes of critical self-understanding that help problematize the ways in which contemporary societies interpret and organize their own historical present.