Trash and Limits in Latin American Culture, Micah McKay, 2024, University of Florida Press
Latin America is an ideal region for studying trash in every mucky respect, from its production in rapidly growing consumer societies to its management and social impact. Neoliberalism, in particular, has deepened the region’s incorporation into global networks of production and consumption with all the implications these have for the generation of waste and how it is subsequently dealt with. As part of the Global South, it has been the victim of what Rob Nixon has called the “slow violence”—delayed destruction out of sight dispersed across time and space—visited upon it by the developed world. Mexico, for example, is the object of what is termed “plastic colonialism” as Latin America’s largest importer of plastic waste, and the main destination for the plastic trash exported by the US. But as Micah McKay notes, and possibly because of this, Latin America is also a region in which trash has been included in a wide range of cultural texts—from novels to films—which, when examined with a critical eye, can tell us a great deal about both human society but also about the region itself. As the author points out, trash plays a central role in our understanding of the Anthropocene, the current geological epoch defined by the profound modifications to the Earth’s geology and atmosphere: it occupies a unique position in relation to both nature and culture. Of all the material that can serve as the basis for what it means to be human in an era of human-induced climate change, one category stands out: trash. By considering waste above all as a cultural resource, the author rummages through a range of texts to uncover the many insights that it can provide. It takes on a discursive power, from the material to the philosophical to the ecological. Indeed, how do we define trash, and thereby decide what is discarded and what is not? What do trash narratives have to say about the pressing issues facing contemporary Latin American societies: violence, marginalisation, neoliberal globalisation, economic injustice and environmental crisis? What can they tell us about our relationship with the natural world and such concepts as human progress and even national identities? The author examines a wide range of texts in which trash makes an appearance, from short stories and novels by, among others, Julio Ramón Ribeyro (Peru), César Aira (Argentina) and Alvaro Enrigue (Mexico), to non-fiction by such as Alicia Dujovne Ortiz (Argentina), to films by Jorge Furtado and Eduardo Coutinho (Brazil). McKay uncovers a rich seam of knowledge hidden like discarded treasure within the garbage, “a multivalent force that poses threats to humans and nonhumans alike, yes, but that is also an essential part of who we are”. This highly original work of scholarship provides intriguing insights from something that surrounds us yet is all but invisible. As the author writes: “Trash compels us to contemplate the limits of how we define ourselves as humans, what underpins the formation of communities, our ability to manage the excess we produce, and the notion of individual responsibility in the face of collective environmental crisis.”
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Categories: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Central America, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, North America, Peru, South America, United States