En la orilla by Rafael Chirbes: from corruption to squandering

Abstract

En la orilla (2013), by Valencian writer and journalist Rafael Chirbes, has been unanimously acclaimed by critics as the novel of the Spanish economic crisis (2008-2014) and the testament of an entire generation. In the fictional town of Olba, on the Levantine coast, systemic corruption is at once economic, moral and material. This article sets out to analyze the microcosm of Olba through the metaphor of waste. First, a loop of causes and effects leads the male characters to accept their defeat, embodied both by the cyclical structure of the story, the bankruptcy of the carpentry shop and the incineration of part of Esteban's legacy in the landfill. Superimposed on the annihilation of Esteban's material and moral heritage is the destruction of the natural territories of the Marina Alta, which deprives the people of their landscapes, their memories and, by extension, part of their identity. Finally, the bodies of the protagonists, turned into waste because of their uselessness, are the mirror of society's secular fear of disorder and the symbol of a form of biopower that would exercise rational control over bodies.