A twist on philanthropy: The logic of death and the ethics of the other in Mario Bellatins Salón de belleza
Una vuelta de tuerca a la filantropía: Lógica de la muerte y ética del otro en Salón de belleza de Mario Bellatin
Villamía L.
2021Liverpool University Press
Bulletin of Hispanic Studies
2021#98Issue 6613 - 626 pp.
The hermeticism of closed universes and the opacity of the peculiar experimental writing of Mario Bellatin have given rise to diverse interpretations of his most celebrated and read work, Salón de belleza (1994), interpretations which are above all connected to the dimension of corporeality and illness. However, I believe there is another especially valid and enigmatic approach in the novel: Its interpretation from the ethical perspective. How is it possible that the story of a man devoted so unconditionally to the care of the most vulnerable gives rise to a sombre and ruthless reading? The answer is likely to have to do with what Bellatin calls the logic of death. To approach the story from this perspective we first explore the notion of passive euthanasia exercised by the protagonist in the Moridero further comparing this notion with our current notion of an ideal death, inspired by the need to medicalize the sentiment of death and prolong life through technology. We go on to analyse the enormous sacrifice made by the protagonist for the good of those most unfortunate through the prism of the ethics of others, drawing on the thoughts of Emmanuel Levinas.
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Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Nazarbayev University
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026