High tide and low tide of the representation of the port-oceanic imaginary in the Valparaíso narrative

Abstract

The sea is an element that decisively composes the geography of Valparaíso, determining ways of inhabiting the territory, the character of its inhabitants, modes of speech, production systems and social networks. It is a presence of an elementary type that integrates and generates what could be considered as the central imaginary of the culture of a port city. This article aims to offer a panoramic view of the influence and symbolic representation of the sea in Valparaiso´s literature, through a comparative analysis of two moments of its narrative production: 20th century and 21st century. It is proposed that the link between Valparaíso’s literary production with the oceanic component configures an aesthetic whose evolution is It can explain from the relationship that the inhabitant establishes with its coastal edge. The presence of a maritime imaginary is then verified that in the fictional discourse experiences a process of location and displacement, which reflects the physical transformations and the political-social disputes that have occurred within the territory, identifying in its symbolic recreation a stage of urban imaginary with very defined attributes, which later leads to another with characteristics of an urban ghost.