Displacement and identity in Papeles falsos by Valeria Luiselli

This work deals with the first book published by Valeria Luiselli, a collection of
essays entitled Papeles falsos (2010). Luiselli has stated in various interviews that she began
to write essays because, after a series of failed attempts, she believed that fiction writing
was not for her. It is known that just one year after the appearance of Papeles falsos, she
published her first work of fiction, Los ingrávidos (2011). Methodologically, this article will
start from the idea that where Luiselli searches for fiction, she finds essay writing and, with
that, she traces a return to fiction. This movement points to the need to conduct a reading
of Papeles falsos to question to what extent Luiselli’s exploration of the essay format materialises
a migrant aesthetic that will later radicalise fiction. The results of this analysis are,
firstly, that Luiselli disarticulates the traditional ways of thinking about identity and translation
and, instead, elaborates both instances as practices that take place on the surface, in
the face, in the language sounds. Secondly, it can be maintained that Luiselli understands
writing as a mode of translation which takes place in a displacement of meanings and
that embodies a migrant aesthetic. For this reason, it is concluded that translation occupies
a central place in Luiselli’s narrative and that with her first book she sets in motion
a quest for a migrant aesthetic that finds its foundation in the author’s movements between
Mexico City and Venice, while in parallel it questions the idea of identity and its connection
with writing.