Detective Fiction from Latin America (just the intro) by Amelia Simpson

Sherlock Cannot be Taken Seriously in Brazil

Amelia Simpson 's introduction to Detective Fiction from Latin America argues that Latin American culture , including its citizens ' pervasive distrust of law and authority , has inhibited its authors from creating a large body of original detective novels . Though these detective works are quite popular with Latinos , the novels must usually be set in countries with strong democratic values and justice systems for them to seem authentic . The people of Brazil , Cuba and other autocratic countries , where authority is feared from birth and laws and police

are harsh tools of oppression , are skeptical of fair , justice-minded detectives thwarting criminals . If a detective novel follows the traditional , rigid , classical form , it will seem unrealistic to Latinos The more contemporary hard-boiled ' detective novel , with its harsher portrayal of societies that are deeply flawed and teeming with injustice and evil , is a much better fit into the world view of Latin Americans Within these increasingly popular works , imperfect societies and behaviors can be revealed , examined and utilized within the detective novel template

The classical detective genre , with its reassuring view of society its detached , gentlemanly ' sleuths , and its clear , fair delineation between good and evil begs skepticism from Latin American readers who find those concepts foreign and unrealistic . These oppressed citizens of predatory hegemonies ' can only accept the democratic precepts of law and and justice when the classical detective work is set in a plausible setting like America . These relatively simple , predictable rigid whodunits ' have been...