Resumen de Fantasy and reality in Bierce's war short stories
Tzvetan Todorov claimed in his Introducción a la literatura fantástica (1972) that the essence of the fantastic consists of the reader’s hesitation between the marvellous and the uncanny; that is to say, the doubt as to whether related events could be explained rationally or are to be deemed as caused by supernatural forces. For Coleridge, there must be a “suspension of disbelief” in the reading of fantastic literature, especially horror stories.
In the present paper I analyse some of Bierce’s short-stories from the collection Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, in order to ascertain his potential pertinence to the typically American fantastic tradition, characterized by violence of war, but tinted by a nostalgic, romantic view of mankind. I also discuss the similarities and contrasts with other previous and contemporary authors -such as Poe, Crane and Maupassant, especially as far as their horror stories are concernedin order to locate Bierce in his proper place within the fantastic literary tradition.
