La cámara oscura del yo: Metáforas fotográficas y autobiografía en España

This article explores the presence of references to the mechanism of photography and its simbolic relation with memory and autobiographical writing in late 19th century and early 20th century Spanish autobiographies. Through an historical and literary analysis of certain autobiographies (José Echegaray, Manuel del Palacio, Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Rafael Alberti) we will explore the use of the metaphor of the camera oscura as a hypericon (W. J. T. Mitchell), that is, as the figure that figures the process of autobiographical writing. Following the reflections on photography of authors like Walter Benjamin, Sigfried Krakauer or Roland Barthes, we will show how through the optical metaphor of the camera obscura, Spanish autobiography addresses the main challenges of autobiographical writing; namely: the questions of collusion of different times and spaces with the problem of identity, the reassurance of the accomplishment of the autobiographical pact, etc.