In this article, we will review two different visions regarding the relationship between Western Civilization and violence, two strategies used to expose the dark side of Enlightenment and the ways to overcome it. In In an Antique Land (1994), we will examine Amitav Ghosh’s attempts to modify the modern/colonialist practice of anthropology, shifting the traditional axis of hegemony and subalternity, deconstructing the fixity of representation, and proposing a new, more horizontal and familiar relation with the Other. In Nocturno de Chile (2000), Roberto Bolaño exhibits how Enlightenment (and literature) has been used to hide and justify the deployment of violence. Also, we will attempt to find Bolaño’s exit to that corridor, with apparently no way out.