The Circularity of Waiting: The Fantastic and the Existential in “Todos estábamos a la espera” by Álvaro Cepeda Samudio
Keywords:
Álvaro Cepeda Samudio, waiting, circularity, the Fantastic, existencialism, the eternal return, the absurdAbstract
This article examines Álvaro Cepeda Samudio’s short story “Todos estábamos a
la espera” through a dual lens: the fantastic and the existential. In doing so, it argues
that waiting transcends its thematic role to function as an ontological structure and a
representational device that shapes the plot and defines the condition of the characters.
The analysis highlights the circularity of the text, the plural voice as a dissolution
of identity, the testimony of the massacre as suspended memory, and the figure
of Madeleine as an emblem of the eternal return. Ultimately, the study concludes
that the story dramatizes human existence as an endless waiting that crosses the
boundary between the living and the dead, thereby revealing the fragility of life and
the impossibility of fulfillment.
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