Who is writing to us? Identity, Reality and Literature in the algorithmic age. A critical reading of El perfil de los otros of Gianfranco Pecchinenda

Abstract

The Profile of Others, by the Italo-Venezuelan sociologist and novelist Gianfranco Pecchinenda, is a sophisticated literary, philosophical, and sociological reflection on identity, authorship, and consciousness in the digital and algorithmic age. In this novel, a protagonist searching for his creator is confronted with the possibility that he was not fashioned by a human being but by an artificial intelligence. Through a metafictional game that evokes authors such as Cervantes, Unamuno, Pirandello, Bioy Casares, and Vila-Matas, the work mounts a troubling investigation into the role of the subject in a world where the self has been displaced by profiles, data, and simulations. This article explores the ontological, political, and aesthetic implications of the novel, underscoring its relevance for a critical theory of the present.