Julio Cortázar’s short story “Axolotl” is a literary analysis of fascination. Situating the story in the history of fascination, the article highlights how it repeats well-known themes from this history. Cortázar’s short story also shows how authors have been able to use fascination as a productive force. I argue that Cortázar’s fascination is intimately connected to temporality, especially the time structure associated with reminders. As such, the fascinating story of a man’s obsession with an axolotl suggests that fascination became a major aspect of cultural reproduction and reconfiguration during the 20^th century.

Torbjörn Gustafsson Chorell is professor specializing in intellectual history, including historical theory, at the Department of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University (Sweden). He currently works on the history of fascination and the impact of theories of secularization in modern historiography.