Postmodern Detective Fiction and the Questionning of the Commitment: Edmundo Paz Soldán ; La narrativa policial posmoderna y el cuestionamiento del compromiso: el caso de Edmundo Paz Soldán

Abstract

The classic detective literary convention had been transformed several times before the detective-fiction genre was created by the end of the 19th century. It presented the adventures of individuals that entwined criminal mysteries. It is undeniable that its prestige in the literary world has risen, especially since the middle of the 20th century, when there appeared such literary genres as the metaphysical detective story that endowed plot elements with a philosophical meaning.In Spanish America, since the turbulent times of various political and social problems of the second half of the 20th century, writers have developed many ways of depicting the social and political crime scene thanks to modifying diverse literary conventions of the detective story. A good example is the creation of the Bolivian author Edmundo Paz Soldán (1967) who merged the metaphysical detective story with critical perspective: it describes contemporary Bolivians, citizens of the global village who are still preoccupied with the "premodern" social and political issues in their country. ; El relato detectivesco ha experimentado numerosas transformaciones desde que a finales del siglo XIX se forjara como un género literario. Las narraciones sobre individuos singularmente dotados (perspicaces, valientes) que se empeñaban en resolver enigmas criminales fueron al principio consideradas como literatura popular. Es innegable que su prestigio en el mundo literario ha ido en aumento, sobre todo desde mediados del siglo XX, cuando surgieron modalidades tan sofisticadas como el relato detectivesco metafísico, con su tendencia a alegorizar los elementos de la trama e investirlos de significados filosóficos.En Hispanoamérica, desde la época de las trágicas turbulencias políticas y sociales de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, la narrativa ha sabido modificar las diversas convenciones criminales para tratar temas vinculados con la delincuencia en el ámbito público. En este sentido, un caso significativo lo constituye la obra narrativa del boliviano ...