Die Stille, die das Leben zu einer Tragödie macht

Peruvian writer David Silva Rojas has won the inaugural International Short Novel Prize Almadia-Ventosa Arrufat unanimously for his work Donde el agua trabaja. The award was granted by a jury comprising Cristina Rivera Garza, Selva Almada, and Monica Ojeda. The panel praised the subtlety of his prose, noting how he constructed an oppressive atmosphere without resorting to ideological pamphleteering. They specifically highlighted his effective use of silence as an expressive resource. Silva Rojas, born in Ica in 1981, is a lawyer by training who works as a socio-crime researcher and narrator. He plans to present the book in Buenos Aires on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Libros del Pasaje. The inspiration for the novel stemmed from a specific encounter during research conducted for Peru’s Ministry of Justice. While investigating human trafficking, Silva Rojas spoke with an agricultural worker. She told him that many things happen in their fields that nobody reports. This statement remained with him for a long time and sparked his interest in exploring her reality further. He recalled that she began describing her life in the fields during their conversation. Although he lived in Ica and often saw hundreds of people waiting for buses at dawn, he had previously stopped to imagine their daily existence. After completing his technical investigation, he realized that a scientific article could not address that intimate human dimension. Consequently, he began writing the novel to channel experiences, sorrows, and sadnesses that a technical report could not contain. Donde el agua trabaja immerses readers in a climate of suffocation and involuntary testimony. Violence does not appear explicitly but gestates in the shadows. The narrative features a syntax of short, rapid sentences and depicts the gradual depersonalization of workers in the Ica estates. In one passage, an intermediary records names. When it is the protagonist's turn, he asks for her identity document. He takes it without looking at her, passing it through his fingers as if it weighed heavily. He asks for her name. She tells him. He writes down a different name. She opens her mouth to speak but closes it. Silva Rojas described this syntactic choice as conscious. He wanted to avoid providing abstract or theoretical explanations of physical pain, humiliation, or fatigue. Instead, he preferred to describe corporeality with a rhythm marking agitated breathing, allowing the reader to feel the air running out. As the day in the field advances, the body wears down, and thought ceases to focus on the past or future. The worker’s sole desire becomes rest, stopping the pain, and shedding the physical burden. For the author, rhythm is not decoration but a tool that counts what is happening. In the novel, women arriving in the agro-industrial zone lose their identity. Their names are distorted or changed on lists, stripping them of prior history. They become evaluated solely by the number of boxes harvested. In their communities of origin in the highlands, the protagonist was someone’s daughter, neighbor, or friend. Upon reaching the estate, she loses these connections and reduces to a figure representing production capacity. There is no margin for protest in the registration lines. Whoever holds the notebook exercises power. If someone complains about a misspelled name, the response is removal from the queue. Silva Rojas aimed to show that behind the so-called agro-export boom and large macroeconomic figures lies the physical wear and daily humiliation of those whose hands provide products for supermarkets. Addressing the ethical challenge of dealing with others' pain, Silva Rojas stated that absolute respect is his primary commitment. He emphasized that one cannot appropriate testimony. The text functions as an investigation into the death of a character named Bruno in a separate context involving Chilean author Alberto Fuguet, though this appears to be a distinct literary discussion included in the source material regarding silences and tragedy. Fuguet discussed his novel Ushuaia, which centers on a single mother and her teenage son. The story involves the suicide of the son and uses multiple perspectives including interviews and blogs to reconstruct their lives. Fuguet noted that putting things into words is key because it liberates but requires courage. He argued that while characters may not say what is crucial, the reader knows, transforming the situation into a tragedy. Non-articulation is an option but comes with a cost. Another character, Facundo, faces difficulties living with frontality due to societal consequences of speaking certain truths. Fuguet reflected that literature is dangerous when used well, criticizing works that fill pages without saying hard or real things. Many writers aim to be liked and engage in self-censorship to sell books or win prizes. Fuguet stated he hopes to be dangerous rather than considered a good boy. Writing serves as a way to exist, know oneself, and create an identity matching internal realities.