Authorship and authorial agency in “Anatomía de un cuento” by Fernanda Trías

Abstract: Fernanda Trías early short story book No soñarás flores (2016) is comprised of eight short stories through which she explores topics such as memory, female agency, creative experimentation, and migration. “Anatomía de un cuento,” however, is an exploration on the anatomy of a short story —as the title states—, an ontological quest for a written work, and a challenge to a traditionalistic Postmodern understanding of authorship (Barthes, Foucault) particularly in the context of Latin American fiction. This article argues that by building a short story through the lenses of a mind structured in narratological terms —study of characters, dialogues and spaces rather than the mere process of editing—, Trías explores the authorial agency implied in the coming into existence of a story while problematizing the concept of authorship. This is achieved through the reference of concepts such as the Deleuzian simulacrum stemming from an emotional need to understand her world and by highlighting the unendingness of the unfinished text: the paradox of a text that is never finished as a unit but that exists, therefore, never published. All the while the story emphasizes the creative effort that resides in writing as a cycle, challenging the concept of authorship.