“Debajo de la mierda”: The Subversive Dialogue Between Nicanor Parra and David Aniñir

Abstract

This article explores the common quest of ecological preservation and physical continuity in the poetry of Nicanor Parra and David Aniñir Guiltraro. Both poets employ antipoetic strategies to explore the personal and social crises that are the themes of much of their work. Aniñir's Mapurbe aesthetic is a hybrid art form that simultaneously presents itself as a continuation and a rupture with traditional Mapuche literary forms, but it also is a testament to Aniñir's own commitment to the creation of a new poetics that transcends any grand narrative in keeping with Parra's antipoetic mission. Scatological and sexual imagery are often used in the deconstruction of language and societal institutions to emphasize the importance of spiritual freedom. The article concludes that the call for direct action in both poets' work stems from a desire to contest consumerist tendencies driven by the capitalist project in Chile. Reconnecting the physical with the spiritual outside the bounds of literary convention and social order, counters understandings of the world that have been heavily influenced by the Enlightenment.