Crímenes Exquisitos: Towards the Creation of a Female Cartography in Spanish Crime Fiction
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2019 Crímenes Exquisitos: Towards the Creation of a Female Cartography in Spanish Crime Fiction Jessica Blanco-Marcos University of Tennessee, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation Blanco-Marcos, Jessica, "Crímenes Exquisitos: Towards the Creation of a Female Cartography in Spanish Crime Fiction. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2019. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5743 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Jessica Blanco-Marcos entitled "Crímenes Exquisitos: Towards the Creation of a Female Cartography in Spanish Crime Fiction." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Spanish. Nuria Cruz-Cámara, Luis Cano, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Lois Presser, Harrison Meadows Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Crímenes Exquisitos: Towards the Creation of a Female Cartography in Spanish Crime Fiction A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jessica Blanco-Marcos December 2019 Copyright 2019 by Jessica Blanco-Marcos. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION A los tres luceros de mi vida –mamá, papá, Xenia– por alumbrarme el camino. Siempre. Ahora de regreso a casa. Ya casi. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is the culmination of a long academic and personal transatlantic journey that would have not arrived to a good port without the help of a full village. I want to express my eternal gratitude to Dr. Cruz-Cámara and Dr. Cano for believing in this project, for their unwavering support these past months and for their invaluable feedback. I am forever indebted to Dr. Meadows for his incredible work ethic, unconditional support and availability, and for his masterful craftmanship with words; his mentorship was key throughout the writing stages. I also want to thank Dr. Presser for welcoming me with open arms, for her fascinating class on gender and crime, a world of sociological and criminological perspectives that broadened my research questions and their interdisciplinary horizons. I also need to acknowledge the professors at my alma mater Universidad de Salamanca and NAU, especially Dr. Asención-Delaney, Dr. Hood and Dr. Price for trusting in and fostering my intellectual and writing abilities; their guidance has been crucial to my academic journey. I cannot forget to mention the incredible #InstagramELE family, a wonderful community of Spanish teachers dedicated to teaching the language, building bridges, sharing resources and empowering one another; I treasure their friendship and female solidarity the most. I also need to thank every classmate, coworker and administrative assistant who has lend a helping hand with daily tasks over the past years. I am obliged to be thankful as well for all the obstacles and setbacks along the way, for testing both my will and strength, for teaching me how to be resilient; for making this finish line ever the sweeter. I cannot close these remarks without a special mention to my true driving force: my family. Words cannot truly express how grateful I am for a life full of unconditional love and support. To my ma, for being my anchor, for instilling me to work hard and pursue my goals, for iv the long nights on the phone. To my pa, for always pushing me to be the best version of myself, for always finding a way to make me laugh. To my sister, for being the best friend I could ask for, for taking care of me when I needed it the most and still considering me her role model. To Maya, for all her cuteness and the long writing sessions at home laying at my feet to keep me company. I am who I am because of all of them and I am incredibly proud to call them my family. My home. Thank you. This is for you. To new beginnings! v ABSTRACT My research examines the depiction of female characters in the Spanish crime fiction series Crímenes Exquisitos written by Vicente Garrido and Nieves Abarca. While the genre has been heavily male dominated since its origin by writers and characters alike, the inclusion of female led narratives and gender concerns by women writers has expanded women’s roles beyond the traditional triangular schema –victim-culprit-sleuth– and its stereotypical characterization. The textual analysis of Garrido and Abarca’s series demonstrates how the conception and configuration of female characters has evolved in order to fight against the traditional patriarchal system in place, includes urgently relevant topical issues that affect women and emphasizes the critical role of women’s appearance and sexuality as determining factors for physical and sexual violence. These female representations, when taken together, exemplify women’s objectification by the masculine gaze and their subsequent victimization as a controlling measure against women’s independence and sexual deviance in a patriarchal society struggling to maintain power. By exploring the three sets of bodies –the detective, victims and secondary characters– I create a circular analysis that showcases how bodies not only are a roadmap to our lives but that once they become visible and available, women can be physically and sexually assaulted, regardless of their position and status in society, hence configuring crime fiction as a vehicle to depict possible ways of dealing with its trauma and contemporary gender concerns. Keywords: crime fiction, Spanish crime fiction, novela negra, feminism, female bodies, female victims, female detective, secondary female characters. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. Victims: Female Bodies .................................................................................... 13 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 13 Exquisite Corpses: Crímenes exquisitos ...................................................................... 28 Lidia Naveira – The Dark Side of a Double Life ................................................. 29 Patricia Janz – Of Sex and Drug Excesses .......................................................... 43 Floria di Nissa – The Aftermath of Erotic Literature .......................................... 53 Raquel Conde – The Deadly, Illegal Side of the Law .......................................... 64 Religious Corporeal Experiences: Martyrium ............................................................. 71 Eleonora della Rocca – Wrong Time, Wrong Place ............................................ 74 Paola – Desecrating Sacred Spaces .................................................................... 79 Snuff Bodies: El hombre de la máscara de espejos ...................................................... 90 Belén Egea and Encina Yebra – Deadly Castings ............................................... 92 Plagiarized Bodies: Los muertos viajan deprisa......................................................... 101 Cecilia Jardiel – Between Plagiarism and Friends with Benefits ...................... 102 CHAPTER II. Female Detecting: Valentina Negro ............................................................. 109 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 109 Coordinates from the Policing Past: Female Predecessors Tradition...................... 121 Contemporary Female Policing: New Directions ..................................................... 136 Coordinates for a New Female Character Configuration: Valentina Negro ........... 145 Introducing the (S)hero, Valentina Negro: Personal versus Professional Life ... 153 Valentina as a Femme Fatale: (Venomous) Sensual Coordinates and (Toxic) Relationships .................................................................................................... 162 Policing from the Shadows: Rape Survivor, PTSD and Violence ....................... 182 CHAPTER III. On Female Satellite Characters .................................................................. 196 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 196 Antagonistic Females ................................................................................................. 200 Raquel Conde – Ambition Personified, Relentless Antagonism ......................... 201 Sara Rancaño – Raquel 2.0 .............................................................................. 219 Rajiva – An Ambassador’s Secret Life .............................................................. 228 Estela Brown – The Ice Queen Writer ..............................................................