En las patas de los elefantes. La importancia de las notas a pie de página de Terry Pratchett en la construcción del Mundodisco

Abstract

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld book series is a wide narrative display that builds a universe through more than fifty novels. Nevertheless. due to its division into different storylines, it is possible to choose between several doors to start reading it. Footnotes are the mark of distinction of the author, who, besides employing them to make clarifications and remarks, relies on them to broaden the narrative base of the world he builds. With these resources, Pratchett gives the reader more information about the Discworld’s lore, from the basis and genesis, as the Turtle Great A’Tuin with her elephants holding the Disc, to the practical and organizational issues of the cities, such as Ankh-Morpork’s guilds. Furthermore, it also includes a significant number of easter eggs and references to our reality, with a well-managed balance between criticism and humor. The notes work as a tool that helps to highlight those allusions in order to preserve the parodical and satirical aspects of the text in the case that the reader is not familiar with some of the works and details included. Thus, through these notes, a person who is starting with the author’s work can, during its first encounter, reach a significant level of understanding of the complex narrative universe created by Pratchett.