the wargames of Roberto Bolaño

Abstract

In this paper we have investigated the presence of the World War II, the deformations of Nazism and the war strategy as obsessive themes of Roberto Bolaño from the beginning of his literary career to the novels published after his death. Focusing on his literary games and analyzing Nazi Literature in America (1996) and The Third Reich (started in the eighties under the title The Mediterranean Strategy but published in 2010, seven years after the death of the author), referring to the articles written by Roberto Bolaño and about him, as well as to the interviews and other available evidences, we have tried to show the impact of war both in his literary vigor as in his private life, and to identify war games as a metaphor for the literature and life of the Chilean writer, fond of wargames and owner of a large collection of them.

Keywords

• Roberto Bolaño, La literatura nazi en América, El Tercer Reich, wargames, juegos de guerra.