Abstract
In this essay, I propose a singular look at the works of the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño (1953-2003). Specifically, I focus on his extraordinary, extremely functional, practical application of intertextuality. In his novels, we find interesting applications of literary texts both in the storyworlds (the use the characters make of books) and in the stories’ construction (texts as material or devices for the author). I describe the following functions of Bolaño’s use of intertextuality: basic (anecdotal), ontological, life-modelling, life-and-literature-mixing, identifying, prompting, connecting, and data-providing. I argue that, due to Bolaño’s foregrounding of the subject and activity of reading, as well as, perhaps more importantly, the author’s efforts to assume the position of a reader of his own texts, we can interpret his works as a specific reading space: a virtual, mental, imaginary area where the reader meets the text (including the author perceived as a fellow reader) and the two entities blend. For a reader involved in such a space, Bolaño’s work may be considered a manual for the use of literature and for blending one’s life with it.
