Argentina Noir: New Millennium Crime Novels in Buenos Aires

Author:   Cynthia Schmidt-Cruz
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
ISBN:  

9781438473031


Pages:   338
Publication Date:   01 March 2019
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Argentina Noir: New Millennium Crime Novels in Buenos Aires


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Overview

An engaging and insightful guide to Argentine crime fiction since 2000. Argentina Noir offers a guide to Argentine crime fiction, with a focus on works published since the year 2000. It argues that the novela negra, or crime novel, has become the favored genre for many writers to address the social malaise brought about by changes linked to globalization and market-driven economic policies. Cynthia Schmidt-Cruz presents close readings and original interpretations of eleven novels, all set in or around Buenos Aires, and explores the ways these texts adapt major motifs, figures, and literary techniques in Hispanic crime fiction in order to give voice to wide-ranging social critiques. Schmidt-Cruz addresses such topics as organized crime and institutional complicity, corruption during the presidency of Carlos Menem (1989–1999), terrorist attacks on Jewish institutions in Buenos Aires and the mysterious death of Alberto Nisman, and the winners and the losers of neoliberal structural changes. With a solid underpinning in sociological studies and criticism of the genre and its historical context, Argentina Noir reveals how these novels are renovating the genre to engage pressing issues confronting not only Argentina but also countries throughout Latin America and around the globe.

Full Product Details

Author:   Cynthia Schmidt-Cruz
Publisher:   State University of New York Press
Imprint:   State University of New York Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.581kg
ISBN:  

9781438473031


ISBN 10:   1438473036
Pages:   338
Publication Date:   01 March 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: Argentina Noir From the Whodunit to the Novela Negra: The Poetics of Crime Fiction Development of the Genre in Argentina An Overview of Current Practitioners in Argentina Toward a Characterization of and Approach to the Genre in Argentina 1. Combatting Organized Crime and Institutional Complicity, with a Sentimental Subtext Trafficking Enabled by Institutional Corruption A Sentimental Cop Goes Up against Human Traffickers: Los hombres te han hecho mal by Ernesto Mallo The Foul Breezes of Buenos Aires: Ciudad Santa by Guillermo Orsi 2. The President and All His Men: Watchdog Journalists Tackle Corruption during the Menem Presidency The Menem Presidency and the Neoliberal Era “Novelas menemistas”: El vuelo de la reina by Tomás Eloy Martínez and El muerto indiscreto by Rubén Correa 3. Terrorist Attacks on Jewish Buenos Aires and the Mysterious Death of Alberto Nisman The Hapless Investigation of the Attack on the AMIA A Sexy Journalist Cracks an Anti-Semitic Plot: Asalto al paraíso by Marcos Aguinis The Rogue Spy and the Demise of the Special Prosecutor: El fiscal by R. S. Pratt 4. Trouble in the Country Club, or “Los Nuevos Ricos También Lloran” The Gated Community as Emblematic of the Neoliberal Era Disintegration of Family Ties: Retrato de familia con muerta by Raúl Argemí The High Cost of Keeping Up Appearances: Las viudas de los jueves by Claudia Piñeiro Regendering the Genre: Betibú by Claudia Piñeiro The Gated Community: A Disturbing Message 5. The “Other Side”: The Urban Poor and the Crime Novel No Longer a Middle-Class Society Collateral Damage of Consumer Society: Puerto Apache by Juan Martini Fatal Attraction: La fragilidad de los cuerpos by Sergio Olguín Conclusion: Social Collapse and Human Connections Territorialization and Transformation The Sentimental Subtext Notes Works Cited Index

Reviews

This is a very significant contribution to the field. It is a full and illustrative, as well as authoritative, guide to crime fiction and the novela negra in Argentina in the twenty-first century, with a particular focus on the literature's social and political thematics. - Philip Swanson, author of The New Novel in Latin America: Politics and Popular Culture after the Boom


Argentina Noir offers a guide to Argentine crime fiction, with a focus on works published since the year 2000. It argues that the novela negra, or crime novel, has become the favored genre for many writers to address the social malaise brought about by changes linked to globalization and market-driven economic policies. Cynthia Schmidt-Cruz presents close readings and original interpretations of eleven novels, all set in or around Buenos Aires, and explores the ways these texts adapt major motifs, figures, and literary techniques in Hispanic crime fiction in order to give voice to wide-ranging social critiques. Schmidt-Cruz addresses such topics as organized crime and institutional complicity, corruption during the presidency of Carlos Menem (1989-1999), terrorist attacks on Jewish institutions in Buenos Aires and the mysterious death of Alberto Nisman, and the winners and the losers of neoliberal structural changes. With a solid underpinning in sociological studies and criticism of the genre and its historical context, Argentina Noir reveals how these novels are renovating the genre to engage pressing issues confronting not only Argentina but also countries throughout Latin America and around the globe.


""Schmidt-Cruz's work represents a significant contribution to the field … this is an accomplished study that will be essential reading for scholars of Argentine crime fiction, but that should also hold appeal for those interested in understanding contemporary Argentina, or indeed anyone curious about the power of popular narratives to help illuminate the social and political phenomena of the age."" — Bulletin of Spanish Studies ""This is a very significant contribution to the field. It is a full and illustrative, as well as authoritative, guide to crime fiction and the novela negra in Argentina in the twenty-first century, with a particular focus on the literature's social and political thematics."" — Philip Swanson, author of The New Novel in Latin America: Politics and Popular Culture after the Boom


Author Information

Cynthia Schmidt-Cruz is Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Director of the Center for Global and Area Studies at the University of Delaware. Her previous books include Mothers, Lovers, and Others: The Short Stories of Julio Cortázar, also published by SUNY Press.

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