Las esferas de la enfermedad. El capital como epidemia en el fantástico protoglobal de Diego Muzzio

This essay analyzes how yellow fever and other diseases are represented in Diego Muzzio’s fantastical work, Las esferas invisibles (2015). The essay situates the text within contemporary Hispanic American literature by considering the fantastical genre and illness narratives. Focusing on the first novella, “El intercesor”, the study demonstrates how the “demon of the salt flat” – portrayed as the primordial evil spirit of capitalism – is depicted as an epidemic disease. The analysis reveals how Muzzio’s work anticipates the “fantastic of globalization”, employing classic nineteenth-century Gothic tropes to explore the origins of extractive capitalism in Argentina and its monstrous, contagious nature.