Throughout Most of the Twentieth Century Detective Fiction Remained a Marginal Form in the Field of Chilean Literature

CASES OF IDENTITY CONCEALED AND REVEALED IN CHILEAN DETECTIVE FICTION

KATE M. QUINN

Throughout most of the twentieth century detective fiction remained a marginal form in the field of Chilean literature. Few authors cultivated the genre and, for the most part, literary critics paid scant attention to their efforts. It was only in the Nineties that the genre achieved main- stream acceptance with the success of a new generation of authors of what came to be known as neopolicial latinoamericano or nueva novela negra latinoamericana (new Latin American hard-boiled). In this variant, the cynicism of the hard-boiled takes on an edge of socio- political criticism and is applied to Latin American realities such as social and economic inequality, repressive political regimes, wide- spread political corruption, drugs trafficking and violent crime. In the specific context of Chile, authors like Ramón Díaz Eterovic1 and Roberto Ampuero, the most prolific of the new crime writers, recog- nized the potential within this form for examining the legacy of political radicalism and military dictatorship and for chronicling the years of transition to democracy. The neopolicial model dominated detective and crime fiction production throughout the Nineties and into the new century, 2 but the success of this particular form also created a

1 Díaz Eterovic actually published his first book in the Heredia series, La ciudad está triste, Santiago: Sinfronteras, 1987, prior to the restoration of democracy and in this, and subsequent novels such as Solo en la oscuridad, Buenos Aires: Torres Agüeros Editor, 1992, and Nadie sabe más que los muertos, Santiago: Planeta Meridion, 1993, he examines the legacy of human rights violations committed under the dictatorship. 2 For more on neopolicial and Ramón Díaz and Roberto Ampuero, see Kate Quinn, “Chilean Writers and neopolicial latinoamericano”, in Latin American Detective Fiction: New Readings, eds Shelley Godsland and Jacky Collins, Manchester: MMU Press, 2004, 52-67. 296 Kate M. Quinn wider interest in detective fiction that attracted authors from outside the genre and encouraged a broader range of approaches. This essay will look at two novels from the Nineties by Roberto Ampuero and Marcela Serrano that foreground issues of identity, link- ing these to an examination of contemporary society. Both authors were supporters of Salvador Allende’s political project3 and, from the perspective of the Nineties and with different focuses, re-examine the utopian impulses that informed their generation. In both Ampuero’s ¿Quién mató a Cristián Kustermann?4 and Serrano’s Nuestra Señora de la Soledad5 we find plots that centre around investigations into the identity of absent individuals, and the reconstruction of the details of these individual lives sheds light on contemporary issues. Ampuero’s novel looks critically at the legacy of left-wing political militancy and its place in the Chile of the early years of transition to democracy, while Serrano’s looks at the position of women in contemporary society from a feminist perspective.

Roberto Ampuero’s ¿Quién mató a Cristián Kustermann? Roberto Ampuero is best known in Chile for his Cayetano Brulé detective series, and ¿Quién mató a Cristián Kustermann? is the first of five novels to date.6 The title of the novel makes the issue of identity central to the narrative, even implying a whodunnit quality.

3 Allende came to power in 1970 at the head of the Popular Unity government. Although the main party in this group was Allende’s own socialist party, there were other coalition members and a number of these pursued policies more radical than those favoured by Allende. This government was overthrown on 11 September 1973 in a military coup. General Pinochet emerged as the leader of the subsequent military junta, ruling by decree until 1980. Then he consolidated his position in a controversial plebiscite which allowed him to draft a new constitution and assume the title of President. This constitution confirmed him as Presi- dent until 1989, at which point elections were to be held to see whether he would be confirmed in power for a further term. The constitution also outlined the frame- work for an eventual transition to democracy. 4 Roberto Ampuero ¿Quién mató a Cristián Kustermann?, Santiago: Planeta, 1993. The title of this novel clearly echoes that of Mario Vargas Llosa’s ¿Quién mató a Palomino Molero?. 5 Marcela Serrano, NuestraSeñoradelaSoledad, Santiago: Alfaguara, 1999. 6 The others are Boleros en la Habana, El alemán de Atacama, Cita en el azul pro- fundo,andHalcones de la noche. All Santiago: Planeta, 1995, 1996, 2001, and 2004 respectively.