Living in waste: the case of Basura, a novel by Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny

Vivir en el desecho: el caso de Basura, novela de Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny

Abstract

This article analyzes Basura (2018), by Mexican writer Sylvia Aguilar Zéleny, to delve into the relationship between the spaces—marked by waste—traversed by its protagonist, the multiple center-periphery forms of violence, and the reconstruction of a fragmented identity. The landfill, located on the border of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, takes on particular significance as it is the place where Alicia, the protagonist, takes refuge after suffering domestic abuse. This violence marks the other spaces she inhabits throughout the novel: from the house she lives in during her childhood to the house that shelters her after she flees the landfill.