Identity and Uprooting in El sistema del tacto: Figurations of a Feminist Nomadic Subjectivity

Abstract

The article analyzes the novel El sistema del tacto (2018) by Chilean writer Alejandra Costamagna.
Ania Coletti, the protagonist, oscillates in different temporalities from where the other characters
in the story emerge, among them, her great-aunt Nélida Damilano, mother of Agustín and
articulating axis of the narrative. In addition this will be conceived as the root of a genealogy that
must be repaired. The work explores the identity constitution of the protagonist and its links with
uprooting, which are crucial aspects for the future of a postmodern subjectivity. Based on the
contributions of the feminist theorist Rosi Braidotti and, in particular, on what she calls “nomadic
subjectivity”, I propose that Costamagna’s novel contributes to the figurations of a new feminine
and feminist subjectivity.