Content area
This thesis has two main objectives. On the one hand, it is a historical and critical study of Spanish-American science fiction; on the other, it shows that the Cartesian mind-body dualism is the leading epistemological foundation of this literature. This research and the literary works examined also reveal the increasing ideological validity of biomedicine and brain studies in our understanding of human nature. A substantial number of short stories and novels by famous as well as unknown authors is examined. Ultimately, this thesis shows that Spanish-American science fiction has not only been written since the late 19th century, but that it also has intensively (although unevenly) developed since the second part of the twentieth century. The invisibility of these literary works is explained by the contradicting place of enunciation associated with all the Spanish-American science fiction writers. That is, this thesis considers the fact that science fiction written in "underdeveloped" societies has been regarded as a cultural contradiction.