Brant, Herbert J.2022-06-022022-06-022020Brant, H. (2020). Ricardo Piglia’s Plata quemada: The Queer Pietà. Latin American Literary Review, 48(95), Article 95. https://doi.org/10.26824/lalr.182https://hdl.handle.net/1805/29227This study explores Piglia’s fictionalization of the “real” 1965 crime story that serves as the base for his 1997 novel, Plata quemada, and in particular, the author’s choice to invent a homoerotic relationship between the two main characters, Dorda and Brignone. Piglia’s decision can be viewed as a daring attempt at “fake news” inspired by historic events. But more significantly, the invention of an emotional and physical relationship between the two protagonists serves a powerful structural function in the novel. By means of this relationship, Piglia is able to elaborate a modern-day Argentine tragedy that elicits a cathartic reaction in the reader. And while the title of the novel may highlight the climactic act of rebellious socio-economic nihilism, the novel as a whole demands a co-equal high point that culminates in the radically subversive, emotionally charged image of Dorda cradling the dying Brignone, Piglia’s queer pietà.enAttribution 4.0 InternationalArgentine novelRicardo Pigliaqueer studiesArticle