La Ocasión de Juan José Saer: hacia una tensión entre espíritu y materia

Abstract

Abstract his article examines Juan José Saer’s La ocasión through a critical framework centered on the relationship between subject, object, and materiality in the context of nineteenth-century modernity. Situating the novel within the historical transformations produced by capitalism, mass consumption, and the proliferation of material objects, the study argues that objects are not merely descriptive elements but central narrative operators that mediate perception, knowledge, and subjectivity. The essay explores the tension between spirit and matter as a structural principle of the novel, showing how the attempt to dominate material reality ultimately results in alienation and the progressive objectification of the subject. Drawing on philosophical and cultural reflections from Marx, Lukács, Benjamin, and Bataille, the article analyzes how the narrative constructs a crisis of modern subjectivity shaped by the expanding logic of material culture and the destabilization of the subject–object boundary. The study proposes that La ocasión critically interrogates the illusion of mastering reality and exposes the epistemological limits of perception, possession, and representation in modernity. By foregrounding the narrative and symbolic function of objects, the essay contributes to broader discussions on materiality, modern subject formation, and the cultural consequences of nineteenth-century modernity in Latin American literature.