Besieged identity in the spaces of Chilean exile in the German Democratic Republic: Morir en Berlín and Las dos orillas del Elba

Abstract

The consistency of a self-image depends on the relationship with space, since it ensures belonging, security and attachment, a postulate that constitutes the impetus for the study of the novels about the Chilean diaspora in the GDR, Morir en Berlin by Carlos Cerda, and Las dos orillas del Elba by Juan Forch. Analyzed according to the reflections of Emmanuel Lévinas and the contributions of Environmental Psychology, the texts reveal the history of a group of Chileans who, without being able to enter their homeland, could not leave their host country, a territory surrounded by ideological and perimeter walls. The daily experience in foreign, uncomfortable and precarious spaces, caused a painful identity fracture that meant the difference between being and not being, between freedom and slavery, between living and surrendering.