Description
Narration or Barbarism
Book summary
In a world saturated with stories about entrepreneurship, authenticity, and the management of emotions, this essay invites a critical reflection: where do these narratives really come from? Alberto Santamaría analyzes how institutions, political and financial elites construct discourses that shape our perception of reality. Faced with this imposition, the author proposes recovering the figure of the "schizo-utterance" as a tool of resistance, an alternative narrative that questions the established order. An essential book for those seeking to unmask the power mechanisms hidden behind the stories we consume daily.
What is it about?
Starting from the observation that our daily life is permeated by narratives that extol creativity, entrepreneurship, and emotional expression, Santamaría asks who really benefits from these discourses. The book dismantles the apparent neutrality of these stories, showing how they are promoted by banking institutions, political strategists, and opportunistic elites to maintain a specific social order. Faced with this narrative "barbarism," the author rescues the concept of the schizophrenization of discourse, a philosophical figure from the seventies that allows for the generation of a counter-narrative capable of subverting forms of control. Through an analysis that crosses philosophy, sociology, and literary criticism, the work offers the keys to identifying and resisting the discursive impositions of power.
Main themes
- Critique of institutional narratives and their function of social control.
- Analysis of the discourse of entrepreneurship and creativity as tools of power.
- Political philosophy: the relationship between language, narration, and social order.
- The "schizo-utterance" as a strategy of resistance and discursive subversion.
- Revision of philosophical figures from the seventies applied to the contemporary context.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in political philosophy, critical sociology, and literary theory. It is especially relevant for those who question dominant discourses on success, happiness, and authenticity, as well as for students and professionals in the social sciences, communication, and contemporary thought. It will also be of great value to anyone who wishes to understand the mechanisms hidden behind the narratives that shape our daily reality.
What this book contributes
- A critical tool for identifying and dismantling the narratives of power that surround us.
- An updated theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between language, institutions, and social control.
- The recovery of a key philosophical concept—the schizo-utterance—as a path of creative resistance.
- An interdisciplinary perspective that connects philosophy, sociology, and cultural criticism.
- Keys to developing a more lucid and autonomous gaze in the face of dominant discourses.
Technical specifications
- Author: Santamaría, Alberto
- Publisher: Sans Soleil Ediciones
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: LITERARY ESSAYS, LITERATURE: HISTORY AND CRITICISM, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION AND BELIEFS, SOCIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, PSYCHIATRY
- Collection: CONSTELLATIO
- Binding: Paperback
- Edition date: February 2017
- Number of pages: 192
- Weight: 302 g
Editorial review
Narración o barbarie presents itself as an incisive and necessary essay in a moment of discursive saturation. Alberto Santamaría manages to articulate a solid critique of hegemonic narratives without falling into simplifications, offering the reader conceptual tools for a more conscious reading of reality. His proposal to recover the "schizo-utterance" as a practice of resistance connects with current philosophical debates and provides an original perspective. It is, without a doubt, a work that will challenge those who seek to go beyond established stories and exercise truly critical thinking.