A KIDULT POETRY: AN APPROACH TO THE WORK OF ELENA MEDEL

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the poetic work of the Spanish writer Elena Medel from a notion, such as that of kidult, recently popularized by anthropology to problematize the high degree of complexity acquired by passages of age in the postmodern context and neo-liberalism. It will be precisely from this point of view, which juxtaposes and blurs the limits between childhood and adulthood, that we will address the childish ethos present in all her production. The article will thus propose an approach of Medel's poetic work that will address the different inflections adopted by the kidult: the adolescent proposal of Mi primer bikini (2002), the forms of grieving and childhood in Tara (2006), and the problematization of access to adulthood during the Spanish economic crisis in Chatterton (2014).