His Name Was Death by Rafael Bernal

The Unseen Book Club

His Name Was Death is a 1947 science fiction novel published by Rafael Bernal, a Mexican writer, scholar, diplomat and activist in the Catholic reaction against the Mexican Revolution as part of the National Synarchist Union (UNS). It was translated from Spanish to English by poet and translator Kit Schluter, and published in October, 2021 (New Directions). Bernal is well-known in Mexico for his satirical crime-noir novel The Mongolian Conspiracy, but his work is wide-ranging, and largely unavailable in English. His Name Was Death is a bizarre and hilarious critique of modernist angst. It can be summarized as one man’s alcohol- and alienation-fueled quest to facilitate the domination of humanity by our rightful overlords, the mosquitos.

We talk to translator Kit Schluter about despicable narrators, the biographical significance of an author, layered symbolism, sci-fi genre conventions, narratives of modernity through Catholic nationalism, and translating questionable content into the 21st century.

A recent article by journalist Max Pearl about the life of author Rafael Bernal, which emphasizes his political engagement with the UNS:
https://thebaffler.com/latest/lord-of-the-flies-pearl

A playlist of Synarchist ballads:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcF0hJ3Z8RQ&t=1988s

Kit Schluter: http://twitter.com/dedreytnien

The Unseen Book Club: https://twitter.com/unseenbookclub

Music by ex-official: https://exofficialexo.bandcamp.com/

Art by Eli Liebman: https://elimack.weebly.com/