Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century

Contemporary Central American fiction has become a vital project of revision of the tragic events and the social conditions in the recent history of the countries from which they emerge. The literary projects of Sergio Ramirez (Nicaragua), Dante Liano (Guatemala), Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvad...

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Main Author:	Guzman-Medrano, Gael
Format:	Others
Published:	FIU Digital Commons 2013
Subjects:	Contemporary Central American Literature Postmodernism Post-revolutionary Literature Noir Fiction Detective Fiction Arts and Humanities Latin American History Latin American Languages and Societies Latin American Literature Modern Literature Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Spanish Literature
Online Access:	http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/917 http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2040&context=etd

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spelling	ndltd-fiu.edu-oai-digitalcommons.fiu.edu-etd-20402018-07-19T03:33:20Z Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century Guzman-Medrano, Gael Contemporary Central American fiction has become a vital project of revision of the tragic events and the social conditions in the recent history of the countries from which they emerge. The literary projects of Sergio Ramirez (Nicaragua), Dante Liano (Guatemala), Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador), and Ramon Fonseca Mora (Panama), are representative of the latest trends in Central American narrative. These trends conform to a new literary paradigm that consists of an amalgam of styles and discourses, which combine the testimonial, the historical, and the political with the mystery and suspense of noir thrillers. Contemporary Central American noir narrative depicts the persistent war against social injustice, violence, criminal activities, as well as the new technological advances and economic challenges of the post-war neo-liberal order that still prevails throughout the region. Drawing on postmodernism theory proposed by Ihab Hassan, Linda Hutcheon and Brian MacHale, I argued that the new Central American literary paradigm exemplified by Sergio Ramirez’s El cielo llora por mí, Dante Liano’s El hombre de Montserrat, Horacio Castellanos Moya’s El arma en el hombre and La diabla en el espejo, and Ramon Fonseca Mora’s El desenterrador, are highly structured novels that display the characteristic marks of postmodern cultural expression through their ambivalence, which results from the coexistence of multiple styles and conflicting ideologies and narrative trends. The novels analyzed in this dissertation make use of a noir sensitivity in which corruption, decay and disillusionment are at their core to portray the events that shaped the modern history of the countries from which they emerge. The revolutionary armed struggle, the state of terror imposed by military regimes and the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, are among the major themes of these contemporary works of fiction, which I have categorized as perfect examples of the post-revolutionary post-modernism Central American detective fiction at the turn of the 21st century. 2013-07-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/917 http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2040&context=etd FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations FIU Digital Commons Contemporary Central American Literature Postmodernism Post-revolutionary Literature Noir Fiction Detective Fiction Arts and Humanities Latin American History Latin American Languages and Societies Latin American Literature Modern Literature Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Spanish Literature
collection	NDLTD
format	Others
sources	NDLTD
topic	Contemporary Central American Literature Postmodernism Post-revolutionary Literature Noir Fiction Detective Fiction Arts and Humanities Latin American History Latin American Languages and Societies Latin American Literature Modern Literature Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Spanish Literature
spellingShingle	Contemporary Central American Literature Postmodernism Post-revolutionary Literature Noir Fiction Detective Fiction Arts and Humanities Latin American History Latin American Languages and Societies Latin American Literature Modern Literature Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Spanish Literature Guzman-Medrano, Gael Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century
description	Contemporary Central American fiction has become a vital project of revision of the tragic events and the social conditions in the recent history of the countries from which they emerge. The literary projects of Sergio Ramirez (Nicaragua), Dante Liano (Guatemala), Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador), and Ramon Fonseca Mora (Panama), are representative of the latest trends in Central American narrative. These trends conform to a new literary paradigm that consists of an amalgam of styles and discourses, which combine the testimonial, the historical, and the political with the mystery and suspense of noir thrillers. Contemporary Central American noir narrative depicts the persistent war against social injustice, violence, criminal activities, as well as the new technological advances and economic challenges of the post-war neo-liberal order that still prevails throughout the region. Drawing on postmodernism theory proposed by Ihab Hassan, Linda Hutcheon and Brian MacHale, I argued that the new Central American literary paradigm exemplified by Sergio Ramirez’s El cielo llora por mí, Dante Liano’s El hombre de Montserrat, Horacio Castellanos Moya’s El arma en el hombre and La diabla en el espejo, and Ramon Fonseca Mora’s El desenterrador, are highly structured novels that display the characteristic marks of postmodern cultural expression through their ambivalence, which results from the coexistence of multiple styles and conflicting ideologies and narrative trends. The novels analyzed in this dissertation make use of a noir sensitivity in which corruption, decay and disillusionment are at their core to portray the events that shaped the modern history of the countries from which they emerge. The revolutionary armed struggle, the state of terror imposed by military regimes and the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime, are among the major themes of these contemporary works of fiction, which I have categorized as perfect examples of the post-revolutionary post-modernism Central American detective fiction at the turn of the 21st century.
author	Guzman-Medrano, Gael
author_facet	Guzman-Medrano, Gael
author_sort	Guzman-Medrano, Gael
title	Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century
title_short	Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century
title_full	Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century
title_fullStr	Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century
title_full_unstemmed	Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century
title_sort	post-revolutionary post-modernism: central american detective fiction by the turn of the 21st century
publisher	FIU Digital Commons
publishDate	2013
url	http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/917 http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2040&context=etd
work_keys_str_mv	AT guzmanmedranogael postrevolutionarypostmodernismcentralamericandetectivefictionbytheturnofthe21stcentury
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Post-Revolutionary Post-Modernism: Central American Detective Fiction by the Turn of the 21st Century

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