“That Mud of the Real”: Pablo Forcinito’s Saga of Evil

In the last decade, Argentine horror narratives have insistently problematized historical memory and spectrality as a virtual agency of the violent past, leaving plots linked to demonology, esotericism, folk horror and their repertoires in the background. Within this more visible line, there is anot...

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Autor principal: Gasparini, Sandra
Formato: Artículo revista
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires 2026
Materias:
literatura argentina
Forcinito
Mal
capitalismo
Terror
Argentine Literature
Evil
Capitalism
Acceso en línea:https://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/matadero/article/view/17609
Aporte de:
El matadero de Universidad de Buenos Aires
id I28-R249-article-17609
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spelling I28-R249-article-176092026-03-31T11:44:59Z “That Mud of the Real”: Pablo Forcinito’s Saga of Evil “Ese barro de lo real”: la saga del Mal de Pablo Forcinito. Gasparini, Sandra literatura argentina Forcinito Mal capitalismo Terror Argentine Literature Forcinito Evil Capitalism Terror In the last decade, Argentine horror narratives have insistently problematized historical memory and spectrality as a virtual agency of the violent past, leaving plots linked to demonology, esotericism, folk horror and their repertoires in the background. Within this more visible line, there is another series that emphasizes the bad synergy between territory and violence, and in this modality the thick line of the rural stands out in opposition to the ambiguous urban world. This turn implies the capitalization of a traditional figuration of Evil that recovers part of the repertoire of folk horror, a subgenre that deals with themes linked to paganism, occultism and rituals. In turn, these repertoires are connected to the demonization of economic processes typical of the neoliberal phase of capitalism, which are thought of by the imaginaries of global crisis. In the still unfinished Pablo Forcinitoʼs saga La misa de los suicidas (2022-2024), the rural and urban framework of the plot remarks the tensions between region and Evil from the periphery to the national level. This reading is based on Benjamin's approach that points out the cult trait of capitalism as a religious phenomenon parasitic on Christianity that does not atone for guilt but rather engenders it. The representation of a village healer who serves a demon, with his demands for pacts and sacrifices as debts, exposes the mechanisms with which Evil constitutes itself as the driving force and necessary counterweight to human activities. En la última década las narrativas de terror argentinas problematizaron con cierta insistencia la memoria histórica y la espectralidad en tanto agencia virtual del pasado violento, dejando en segundo plano las tramas vinculadas a las demonologías, el esoterismo, el folk horror y sus repertorios. Dentro de esta línea más visible, hay otra serie que enfatiza la mala sinergia entre territorio y violencia, y en esta modalidad descuella el trazo grueso de lo rural en oposición al ambiguo mundo urbano. Este giro implica la capitalización de una figuración tradicional del Mal que recupera parte del repertorio del folk horror, subgénero que trata temas vinculados al paganismo, ocultismo y rituales. A su vez, estos repertorios se conectan con la diabolización de procesos económicos propios de la fase neoliberal del capitalismo sobre los que piensan los imaginarios de crisis global. En la saga aún inconclusa La misa de los suicidas (2022-2024), de Pablo Forcinito, el marco tanto rural como urbano de la trama vuelve pregnantes las tensiones entre región y Mal desde la periferia hacia el ámbito nacional.  Esta lectura parte del planteo de Benjamin que señala el carácter cultual del capitalismo en tanto fenómeno religioso parasitario del cristianismo que no expía la culpa sino que la engendra. La representación de un sanador de pueblo que sirve a un demonio, con sus exigencias de pactos y sacrificios como deudas, desnuda los mecanismos con los que el Mal se constituye en motor y contrapeso necesario de las actividades humanas. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires 2026-03-27 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf https://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/matadero/article/view/17609 10.34096/em.n19.17609 El Matadero Revista Crítica de Literatura Argentina; Núm. 19 (2025) 2683-9687 0329-9546 spa https://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/matadero/article/view/17609/15959 Derechos de autor 2026 Sandra Gasparini
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-249
container_title_str El matadero
language Español
format Artículo revista
topic literatura argentina
Forcinito
Mal
capitalismo
Terror
Argentine Literature
Forcinito
Evil
Capitalism
Terror
spellingShingle literatura argentina
Forcinito
Mal
capitalismo
Terror
Argentine Literature
Forcinito
Evil
Capitalism
Terror
Gasparini, Sandra
“That Mud of the Real”: Pablo Forcinito’s Saga of Evil
topic_facet literatura argentina
Forcinito
Mal
capitalismo
Terror
Argentine Literature
Forcinito
Evil
Capitalism
Terror
author Gasparini, Sandra
author_facet Gasparini, Sandra
author_sort Gasparini, Sandra
title “That Mud of the Real”: Pablo Forcinito’s Saga of Evil
title_short “That Mud of the Real”: Pablo Forcinito’s Saga of Evil
title_full “That Mud of the Real”: Pablo Forcinito’s Saga of Evil
title_fullStr “That Mud of the Real”: Pablo Forcinito’s Saga of Evil
title_full_unstemmed “That Mud of the Real”: Pablo Forcinito’s Saga of Evil
title_sort “that mud of the real”: pablo forcinito’s saga of evil
description In the last decade, Argentine horror narratives have insistently problematized historical memory and spectrality as a virtual agency of the violent past, leaving plots linked to demonology, esotericism, folk horror and their repertoires in the background. Within this more visible line, there is another series that emphasizes the bad synergy between territory and violence, and in this modality the thick line of the rural stands out in opposition to the ambiguous urban world. This turn implies the capitalization of a traditional figuration of Evil that recovers part of the repertoire of folk horror, a subgenre that deals with themes linked to paganism, occultism and rituals. In turn, these repertoires are connected to the demonization of economic processes typical of the neoliberal phase of capitalism, which are thought of by the imaginaries of global crisis. In the still unfinished Pablo Forcinitoʼs saga La misa de los suicidas (2022-2024), the rural and urban framework of the plot remarks the tensions between region and Evil from the periphery to the national level. This reading is based on Benjamin's approach that points out the cult trait of capitalism as a religious phenomenon parasitic on Christianity that does not atone for guilt but rather engenders it. The representation of a village healer who serves a demon, with his demands for pacts and sacrifices as debts, exposes the mechanisms with which Evil constitutes itself as the driving force and necessary counterweight to human activities.
publisher Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires
publishDate 2026
url https://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/matadero/article/view/17609
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first_indexed 2026-04-13T05:02:03Z
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