Argentina Noir

Cynthia Schmidt-Cruz

Description

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.
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

Sujets

• Caribbean
• Latin America
• Latin American

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 14 février 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781438473055
• Langue: English

Extrait

ARGENTINA NOIR
SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian Thought and Culture
JORGE J. E. GRACIA AND ROSEMARY G. FEAL, EDITORS
ARGENTINA NOIR
NEW MILLENNIUM CRIME NOVELS IN BUENOS AIRES
CYNTHIA SCHMIDT-CRUZ
Cover image: Photograph #175 of the Obelisk in Buenos Aires. Used with permission by Silvina Frydlewsky
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2019 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schmidt-Cruz, Cynthia, author
Title: Argentina noir : new millennium crime novels in Buenos Aires
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2019] | Series: SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian thought and culture | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781438473031 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438473055 (e-book)
Further information is available at the Library of Congress.
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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
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WHEN I WAS FINISHING MY BOOK ABOUT FEMALE CHARACTERS IN THE SHORT stories of Julio Cortázar, I thought that it would be impossible to find another research topic that intrigued me as much as that one. Fortunately, I was wrong. I turned my attention to Argentine crime fiction and never looked back! It has taken me well over a decade to complete this book, but I have enjoyed every minute (well, almost every minute) of this voyage of discovery. I loved dedicating time to reading novel after novel—my primary sources. My background work on the development and theory of the genre as well as my attention to sociological studies about issues that the novels engage proved to be fascinating. Especially rewarding and exciting were my trips to Argentina to meet and talk with authors and familiarize myself with the rich and varied contemporary scene of the novela negra along with the reality that inspires it. Particularly memorable were my interactions with writers Ernesto Mallo, María Inés Krimer, Mercedes Rosende, Miguel Ángel Molfino, Guillermo Orsi, Osvaldo Aguirre, Claudia Piñeiro, Mempo Giardinelli, Leopoldo Brizuela, Mercedes Giuffré, Carlos Salem, Leonardo Oyola, Carlos Balmaceda, Juan Carrá, and Javier Chiabrando. I was also fortunate to correspond with Raúl Correa and to meet Tomás Eloy Martínez before his death.
Heartfelt thanks go to the friends and colleagues at the University of Delaware who have supported me in many ways. First, a huge debt of gratitude goes to my dear friend Laura Salsini, who read the entire first version of my manuscript and provided many helpful suggestions to improve it. I also thank Susan McKenna and Annette Giesecke for their support and friendship, and Deborah Steinberger and Gladys Ilarregui for their help with translations. A special thanks to Persephone Braham for her encouragement and belief in this project. Persephone’s groundbreaking book on the neopolicial with a focus on its manifestations in Mexico and Cuba served as an example and inspiration. A big thank you to Lisa Schulz for her invaluable assistance with the index and word processing challenges as well her friendship and good nature. Turning to colleagues outside of UD, I am very grateful to David Sheinin, who read an early version of chapter 3 and gave me excellent editing advice. My gratitude goes out to Osvaldo di Paolo Harrison, who expressed faith in my project at a difficult moment, and whose study of the policial palimpséstico provided an important model for approaching novels that incorporate real-life news stories. I am also grateful to Glen Close and Shelley Godsland, whose studies of Hispanic crime fiction provided fundamental directions for various aspects of this project. Thanks are also due to the anonymous readers contracted by SUNY, whose reports contained valuable advice that led to significant improvements in my text.
SUNY has been a great press to work with. I thank the acquisitions editors, Beth Bouloukos, who recognized the value of my project and invited me to submit my manuscript, and Rebecca Colesworthy, who saw the acquisition process to completion. I am grateful to Rebecca for helping me craft the abstract and reframe my introductory chapter, as well as for shepherding my project through the final acquisition stages. My thanks also go to the production editor, Jenn Bennett-Genthner, for her excellent work overseeing the many tasks related to this book’s production.
For the cover art, I am thrilled to have a photograph by the highly skilled photojournalist Silvina Frydlewsky. I had the good luck to get to know Silvina when we collaborated on a project featuring photography and poetry addressing the 2001 crisis in Argentina, and it is a privilege to feature her striking photo of the Obelisk at nightfall on this book’s cover.
I feel fortunate to work at a university that provides generous support for research, and I would like to express my gratitude to the units in the University of Delaware that have extended financial support for my research and conference-participation travel. These include the College of Arts and Sciences; the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; the Center for Global and Area Studies; the Institute for Global Studies; and the General University Research Program.
I thank the journal publishers that granted me permission to republish revised versions of two articles. An earlier version of chapter 2 was published as “The Argentine Novela Negra Critiques the 1990s in El vuelo de la reina by Tomás Eloy Martínez and El muerto indiscreto by Rubén Correa,” in Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana 39, no. 2 (2010): 171–91. The analysis of Retrato de familia con muerta , the first novel studied in chapter 4, appeared in an earlier version as “Murder in the Country Club: Trouble in Neoliberal Paradise in Retrato de familia con muerta by Raúl Argemí,” in Polifonía 3, no. 1 (2013): 52–67.
Finally, a huge thanks to my husband and daughter, Jesús and Cristina Cruz, who put up with the many years it took me to complete this project. This book is for them.
Introduction
ARGENTINA NOIR

En este lío en el que estamos, tengo la sensación de que hoy es mejor no hacer periodismo, y ponerse a escribir ficción.
—Claudia Piñeiro, quoted in Aguirre, “Los temas están en el aire y uno los baja”
CRIME FICTION IS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON THAT IS EXPLODING IN POP ularity. Acclaimed crime novels hail from the frigid climes of Scandinavia to Shanghai’s dark alleys, from Cape Town to Hamburg. French and Italian novelists continue their countries’ well-established traditions of detective and crime fiction, and Latin America and Spain have many first-rate practitioners of the genre. Crime fiction has proven to be infinitely adaptable to diverse cultural milieu as authors use this global genre for local expression. Praising its vivid and persuasive engagement with social reality, Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen describes cr