Koans and Deconstructing Logos: A Zen reading of La nueva novela by Juan Luis Martínez

This article proposes a reading of Juan Luis Martínez’s La nueva novela to reveal the way in which the Chilean poet mobilizes texts from Western authors to undermine Western epistemology from within. Martínez uses Eastern philosophical concepts to deconstruct the logocentric tradition, creating poetic texts that operate similar to Zen koans. Martínez’s project reveals the similarities in literary deconstruction and Zen by decentering language and questioning the processes of producing meaning.