Subversive Sex, Gender, and Genre in Cuban and Mexican Detective Fiction Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Ailsa Miriam Peate May 2017 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... 7 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 11 1.1. Scholarship in the Field ............................................................................. 11 1.2. Re-approaching the Cuban and Mexican Detective Fiction Genres ........ 12 1.3. Applying a Terminology ............................................................................ 15 1.4. Primary Texts, Authors, and Circulation .................................................. 16 1.5. Detective Fiction in Latin America ........................................................... 19 1.6. Detective Fiction in Cuba and Mexico ..................................................... 22 1.7. The Problematics of Postmodernism ....................................................... 26 1.8. The Postmodern Detective Novel in Cuba and Mexico .......................... 29 1.9. Detective Fiction in Cuba and Mexico: Sex, Sexuality, and Violence ..... 32 1.10. From Pre-Revolution to the Legacy of the Maquiladoras: The Status of Women in Mexico ............................................................................................ 33 1.10.1. The Wounds of Neoliberalism: Feminicide ................................................. 36 1.11. Revolution and Evolution? Sex and Gender in Cuba ............................... 38 1.11.1. Communist Cuba’s Femmes Fatales .............................................................. 39 1.11.2. Non-Normative Sexualities: Cuba’s Internal Exiles.................................. 41 1.12. Chapter Overviews .................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER TWO: LEONARDO PADURA’S MÁSCARAS: ‘TRAVESTIDO, TRANSFORMADO, DEFINITIVAMENTE DISTINTO’? ..............................47 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 47 2.1. In Transit: Dictatorship, Revolution, and the Status of Intellectuals ........... 48 2.2. Creating a Genre ............................................................................................ 50 2.3. Genre Trouble and Transgenericidad: The Postmodern Cuban Detective Novel................................................................................................................. 53 2.4. Iconoclasm in Máscaras: Postmodern Subversions of the Hombre Nuevo .. 61 2.5. The Neo-Femme Fatale ................................................................................ 65 2.5.1. The Cuban (Socialist) Detective Novel: The Missing Femme Fatale ....... 66 3 2.5.2. Threats from Beyond the Grave: The Destabilising Power of the homme attrapé ................................................................................................................................... 69 2.5.3. Threats from the Past: The Hombre Fatal and the Hombre Nuevo ......... 75 2.6. Threats in the Present: Gender/Genre Trouble ............................................ 79 2.7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 84 CHAPTER THREE: A JOURNEY TO HELL AND BACK: GENRE SUBVERSION IN AMIR VALLE’S EL DESCENSO A LOS INFIERNOS .... 87 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 87 3.1. Los Novísimos, Exile, and Distance: Problematising Cuban Detective Fiction ............................................................................................................... 88 3.1.2. Exile and Marginality ............................................................................................ 91 3.2. Style, Scepticism, and Subjectivities .............................................................. 93 3.3. Breaking Boundaries: Sex, Violence, and Plot Advancement ...................... 102 3.4. Trans-formations and Cultural Icons in the Descenso trilogy ..................... 114 3.4.1. The Neo-Hombre Nuevo: (Re)Presentations of an Icon ......................... 116 3.4.2. Pariahs and Agency: Valle’s Femme Fatale ................................................. 122 3.5. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 125 CHAPTER FOUR: GENDER, GENRE, AND GRATIFICATION IN BEF’S HIELO NEGRO AND CUELLO BLANCO ..................................................... 129 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 129 4.1. Sex, Drugs, and Neoliberal Policy in Mexico ............................................... 130 4.2. Female Identities in Contemporary Mexico ................................................. 132 4.2.1. Dangerous Women, Dangerous Representations ....................................... 135 4.2.2. The Homoerotic Dangerous Woman ............................................................. 146 4.3. Disguise and Concealment: Masking the Body ........................................... 153 4.4. Generic Borrowings and Disguise: The Postmodern Crime Novel ............. 160 4.4.1. Genre Blurring, Sexual Violence, and Titillation ........................................ 164 4.5. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 170 CHAPTER FIVE: ROGELIO GUEDEA’S COLIMA TRILOGY: SEX, LIES, AND SUBJECTIVITY ........................................................................................ 173 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 173 5.1. Truth and Subjectivity in Fictional Narratives ............................................. 176 4 5.2. Convoluted Style ........................................................................................... 180 5.3. Convoluted Truths ........................................................................................ 187 5.4. Detecting Trouble: the Unusual Investigator ............................................. 191 5.5. Practising Unsafe Sex: Entertainment and Disgust in the Colima Trilogy . 200 5.6. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 209 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ....................................................................... 213 6.1. Challenging Form(s): Cuban Detective Fiction ........................................... 215 6.1.1. Padura’s Máscaras................................................................................................. 215 6.1.2. Valle’s Descenso Series ....................................................................................... 217 6.1.3. Cuban Detective Fiction ............................................................................ 219 6.2. Genre, Masks, and Genre Masks: Mexican Detective Fiction ..................... 219 6.2.1. Bef’s Detective Mijangos series ........................................................................ 220 6.2.2. Rogelio Guedea’s Colima trilogy ..................................................................... 221 6.2.3. Mexican Detective Fiction ................................................................................. 222 6.3. Subversive Sex, Gender, and Genre in Cuban and Mexican Detective Fiction 223 6.3.1. Sex and Gender ...................................................................................................... 224 6.3.2. Genre ........................................................................................................................ 225 WORKS CITED .................................................................................................. 227 Primary Texts ...................................................................................................... 227 Secondary Texts .................................................................................................. 227 5 6 Acknowledgements This research would not have taken place had it not been for the financial support of the E. Allison Peers-Santander Research Studentship, which allowed me to begin my doctoral studies and spend valuable time undertaking fieldwork. Thanks must also go to the AHGBI for their Travel Award, and to SLAS, for awarding me the Harold Blakemore Prize and the Travel Grant. Furthermore, this thesis would not have come to completion without the support of those at the University of Liverpool as a student arriving from the University of Glasgow. My supervisory team has been a fantastic source of support, inspiration, and laughter. Above all, Professor Claire Taylor’s advice and time has been invaluable, with her support beginning months in advance of my arrival at Liverpool. Responsive, receptive, and thoughtful, I will always be grateful for having been put under her tutelage. Our relationship has meant I have been exposed to opportunities I would have otherwise left unconsidered, from developing interests in Latin American digital art, to museum ethics in the region, to securing various positions and awards over the last few years. Thank you for everything, Claire. Professor Chris