The State of Nature: Ecogothic (Mo)Other in Catalina Infante’s “Todas Somos una Misma Sombra”

Abstract

This paper analyzes “Todas somos una misma sombra,” a short story by Chilean writer Catalina Infante published in 2018. The story describes the evolution of a community where men extinguish and women, as a joint shadow, walk to interweave with nature. Sun has vanished so the analysis is conceived from the ecogothic premise of fear to climate disorder. Such an alteration is the symbolic result of the ecosocial system of  anthropocene.The study considers the archetype of the state of nature proposed by English philosopherThomas Hobbes. It expresses the fear human beings experience before reaching a pact to live in society. Catalina Infante’s text describes an itinerary of be-coming where women’s  perception of nature is summarized by the idea of (M)other. Due to a new social pact based upon ecofeminism, the primary perception of otherness turns into the comprehension of nature as mother. The sense of shelter creates an imperative of preservation. “Todas somos una misma sombra” condenses those arguments and shows the theoretical suitability of the state-of-nature concept to analyze ecogothic literature.