Sombras de futuro: incursiones de Ángel Olgoso en la ciencia ficción a través de “Materia oscura” y otros textos

Abstract

Ángel Olgoso has become one of the foremost and most distinctive figures in contemporary short fiction in Spanish language, distinguished by a body of work that consistently explores the complex and porous boundaries between the real and the imaginary. Although his literary production is largely inscribed within the rich tradition of the fantastic, numerous short stories and microfictions display a sustained and significant engagement with the thematic and aesthetic conventions of science fiction. This study aims to examine the presence and narrative function of such speculative elements within Olgoso’s creative universe, with particular attention to the short story “Materia oscura”, included in Las frutas de la luna (2013). The first section is composed of a comprehensive overview of the science-fictional motifs that Ángel Olgoso has explored since the 1980s—among them post-apocalyptic dystopias, spatial and temporal journeys, human interaction with artificial intelligences or extraterrestrial beings, and the creation of artificial life and consciousness. Subsequently, a detailed textual and thematic analysis of “Materia oscura” is undertaken, as it represents one of the author’s most ambitious and complex incursions into dystopian aesthetics. Likewise, the paper defends an ideological reading of these narratives, arguing that science fiction functions as a vehicle for critical reflection on the human condition while simultaneously revealing the profoundly existential and pessimistic vision that permeates Olgoso’s distinctive literary universe.