Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 2-19-1999 Regional aspects of Miami crime fiction Heidi Lee Alvarez Florida International University DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI14031604 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Alvarez, Heidi Lee, "Regional aspects of Miami crime fiction" (1999). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1263. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1263 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida REGIONAL ASPECTS OF MIAMI CRIME FICTION A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in ENGLISH by Heidi Lee Alvarez 1999 To: Dean Arthur W. Herriott College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Heidi Lee Alvarez, and entitled Regional Aspects of Miami Crime Fiction, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. Mary ne Ek's Gregory Bowe Kenneth Johnson. Major Professor Date of Defense: March 19, 1999 The thesis of Heidi Lee Alvarez is approved. Dean Arthur W. Herriott College pf Arts and Spjences Dean Richard L. Camp ell Division of Graduate Studies Florida International University, 1999 ii © Copyright 1999 by Heidi Lee Alvarez All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my husband, Jose Enrique Alvarez. Without his patience, understanding, support, and most of all love, the completion of this work would not have been possible. I also acknowledge Juliana, Gabriella and Sabrina with love, all of whom provided the inspiration to finish what I started. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank the members of my committee, Dr. Joan Baker, Dr. Mary Jane Elkins and Dr. Gregory Bowe, for their helpful comments and patience. I also want to thank Les Standiford and Jim Hall from Florida International University's Creative Writing Department for their help in granting me interviews and providing introductions to many of the other South Florida crime fiction authors. Thanks to Barbara Parker, Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, Vicki Hendricks, Paul Levine and Elmore Leonard along with Mitchell Kaplan from Books & Books for the interviews. Special thanks must go to my major professor, Dr. Kenneth Johnson, for his support and encouraging comments, and especially for having the confidence in me to give me the chance to do this project. v ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS REGIONAL ASPECTS OF MIAMI CRIME FICTION by Heidi Lee Alvarez Florida International University, 1999 Miami, Florida Professor Kenneth Johnson, Major Professor This thesis argues that forces of literary regionalism and postmodern culture are behind the explosion of crime fiction being written in and about South Florida by a growing number of resident authors. Research included four methods of investigation: 1. A critical reading of many of the novels that make up the sub-genre. 2. A study of the theories of regionalism, postmodernism and the genre of the crime fiction. 3. Interviews with a number of the authors and a prominent Miami book seller. 4. Sociological studies of Miami in terms of historical events and their cultural significance. Today's South Florida crime fiction authors cast their narratives in the old genre of the detective novel where characters are delineated according to traditional definitions of good and evil. Evil characters threaten established order. What makes South Florida crime fiction different from traditional detective fiction is its interest in the exotic, postmodern culture and setting of South Florida. Like the region, the villains are exotic and the order that they threaten is postmodern. There is less of an interest in attributing a larger social meaning to vi the heroes. Rather, there is an ontological interest in the playing out of good against evil in an almost mythical setting that magnifies economic, environmental and racial issues. There is a unique cultural diversity of the city due to the geographical location of Miami in relationship to Latin America and the Caribbean, and the political forces at work in the region. South Florida's sub- tropical climate, fragile ecosystem, and elements of frontier life in a cosmopolitan city work to support Miami crime fiction. The setting personifies the unpredictability and pastiche of a postmodern world and may call for a new definition for literature that relies on non-traditional regional characteristics. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Miami; Voices From The Frontier ...................................................................... 9 The Environment ............................................................................................. 33 Ethnic and Cultural History .............................................................................. 40 The Ethnic Question .................................................................................... 42 A Regional Literature ....................................................................................... 43 1980 - Beginning a new history for Miami ....................................................... 54 Drug Economics .......................................................................................... 63 Miami Vice ................................................................................................... 65 Miami Crime Fiction - A Genre, A Regional Literature, or Both? .................... 68 The Crime Fiction Genre and Miami; A Symbiosis ...................................... 69 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 78 Works Cited ........................................................................................................ 84 Appendix A .......................................................................................................... 92 viii Regional Aspects of Miami Crime Fiction Introduction Miami, Florida is home to an impressive number of crime fiction writers. Their numbers have continued to grow since 1980. There are similarities in characterization, setting, and plots that suggest that crime fiction is the regional literature of South Florida. The crime fiction novelists draw from Miami's unique environment, both natural and developed and a multi-cultural population. These elements of Miami combine to create a postmodern frontier atmosphere' that provides the ideal backdrop for this genre of fiction. It is not possible to identify Miami crime fiction solely with either regionalism or genre. This begs the need for a discussion of both and some analysis to determine how Miami crime fiction is or is not a regional literature and how it has become a sub-genre of mystery / detective fiction as defined by John G. Cawelti, author of Adventure, Mystery and Romance. Cawelti has a great deal to offer in providing a definition for genre fiction, also referred to as "formulaic stories," in his book (2). While Cawelti first observes that the form has the primary purpose "of enjoyment and entertainment," he also emphasizes that by studying this kind of artistic behavior we can discover, "...the cultural patterns it reveals and is shaped by, and... the impact formula stories have on culture" (2). He says that there are modern, "myths that focus on crime, criminals, detectives, and the police," that can be expressed through different archetypal patterns (3), 1 and that by studying these patterns we can learn how our culture is changing. His study of crime fiction emphasizes the need to take into account "a broader cultural and historical perspective and to consider the puzzling question of our extraordinary affection for literature about crime (3)". This writer has taken Cawelti's directive to heart throughout the study of Miami crime fiction. Cawelti also explains that the crime fiction form relies on the artistic skill to create "suspense, identification2, and the creating of a slightly removed, imaginary world" (17). These three genre elements lend focus to this study in terms of how the texts utilize South Florida's attributes to fulfill the form. Regional literature, on the other hand, is always concerned with landscape, ethnicity, and the gender roles of the men and women that inhabit the plots. Cawelti had this to say about the standard elements of the western, one of the most recognizable forms of regional and genre literature: ... many westerns employ revenge stories, while others emphasize the action of chase and pursuit, or conflicts between groups such as pioneers vs. Indians, or ranchers vs. farmer. The element that most clearly defines the western is the symbolic landscape in which it takes place and the influence this landscape has on the character and actions of the hero. (193) Cawelti goes on to observe that the western's geography is its defining element, portraying the action that takes place on the line between civilization and the wilderness. The protagonists were generally characterized as the civilizers or pioneers geographically remote from civilized