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Diálogo Spotlight: LATINX NOIR
An interview with editors: Michael Cucher and William Arce
Now available online via Project Muse. You can access previews at this link: https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/47748)
The next issue of Diálogo takes us into the world of Latinx detective fiction, a popular genre in which writers are often able to provide sharp critiques of the corruption of law enforcement and the ways in which the justice system itself can sometimes reproduce systemic injustice and oppression. Michael Cucher (Univ of Puerto Rico) and William Arce (Cal State Fresno), two of the special guest editors for the issue, sat down to explain why Latinx detective fiction has become such a relevant and dynamic art form for contemporary Latinx writers.
Diálogo Volume 24 Issue 1
MC: I have been interested in detective fiction, especially hardboiled and noir fiction, for a long time – since before I started graduate school. The aesthetics of my favorite novels and films always felt familiar to me, partly, because there’s a “tough guy” ethos that I recognized in many of the men from my own family. When I began getting serious about Latinx literature as a researcher, writer, and teacher, I really liked the way that Latinx detective, mystery, and noir texts played with and interrogated their own generic conventions. These texts really helped me to see the power dynamics lurking just beneath the surface of these genres, especially in their foundational texts, and that was how I began my transition from being a fan of these books to writing critical essays about them.
WA: I have always enjoyed reading Latinx detective fiction. However, I started reading deeply into the genre during graduate school. During those years I helped pay for my education by doing construction work, and it was then that I discovered the detective crime books of Rolando Hinojosa and Lucha Corpi. I fell in love with the genre. I grew up in the South side of Los Angeles and there was a large community of Latinx immigrants in the area; these books dealt with issues that were real in my life: crime in the barrio, policing, community resistance, and border crime. I remember reading some of the crime fiction books during my lunch breaks, during the bus rides home, and later in my bedroom before going to sleep. There was something special about the genre, the novels consisted of characters such as coyotes, street vendors, mechanics, vatos locos, veterans, shady cops, and the like; the stories were very accessible, and they felt working class. Those mystery novels helped me get through some long days doing construction work at different worksites.
When the opportunity emerged to collaboratively edit a special issue on Latinx detective fiction for Diálogo, I jumped on it. It was a pleasure to work on this issue with my colleagues Michael Cutcher and Jose Navarro, and of course with Bill Johnson González the Editor in Chief of the journal. Truly, a positive experience.
Photo of Michael Cucher
Do you teach courses on Latinx detective fiction or mystery novels? Does your work on this issue relate to your teaching?
MC: In the past, I taught a class called “MultiEthnic Detective Fiction in Many Shades of Noir,” and Latinx authors featured prominently on that syllabus. In fact, this was when I first became interested in the work of Michael Nava, whose work I write about for our special issue. In my current position at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, I use mystery and detective fiction in the opening weeks of a class I teach on short stories. In addition to suggesting that students read short stories (throughout the semester) as if they were detectives, this allows me to juxtapose foundational authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Ross MacDonald with authors who write stories about people and places that reflect students’ personal experiences more directly, such as Puerto Rican author Mayra SantosFebres.
WA: In my teaching I incorporate Latinx and Chicanx mystery novels. In my undergraduate classes, for instance, I have taught mystery novels authored by Rolando Hinojosa and Lucha Cope. In my graduate classes I have introduced students to Marcos Villatoro’s crime fiction series featuring Romilia Chacón. It is superb and it features a Salvadoran kick-ass female detective. I have no doubt that I will continue integrating detective novels into my syllabus; they really open the door for fruitful discussions and have the potential of inspiring students to explore related topics. For example, one of the interviews in this issue was submitted by Shanell Contreras, a graduate student at Fresno State working on Chicanx detective novels. She was introduced to Carmen Amato’s novels in one of my classes and her interest in Amato’s detective fiction led to her master’s thesis on female masculinity. These books are full of interesting leads for academic investigation.
What writers are featured in this issue? Who are the Latinx Noir writers we should be reading?
MC: In the last twenty years (or so) of Latinx mystery and detective fiction, Chicanx authors have received the most critical attention, and our special issue responds to existing scholarship on authors that include Michael Nava, Lucha Corpi, Rudolfo Anaya, and María Nieto. I am particularly proud of our issue because the contributors help to bring critical attention to a wide range of authors and texts. Some essays analyze the works of authors that are not always associated with mystery or detective fiction, such as Luis Valdez and Benjamin Alire Sáenz. The essays and interviews in our issue also engage the work of Latinx authors who are not Chicanx, including Héctor Tobar and Marcos McPeek Villatoro. We speak with Black Latinx writer Aya de León, and we also include essays about Mexican writers Paco Ignacio Taibo II and Élmer Mendoza.
In terms of what I’m reading now, I will always recommend the work of California writer Michael Nava, whose gay Chicano protagonist, Henry Rios, stars in the longest-running mystery series in Chicanx literature. In fact, Nava has published yet another novel in the series, Lies With Man, since we submitted our special issue for publication! Another west coast author I love is Aya de León, whose work is particularly interesting right now because it straddles the borders of Latinx heist, crime, mystery, Young Adult, and ecojustice literature. I have also been getting into the work of Brooklyn-born author Richie Narvaez, whose recent titles include Noiryorican, Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco, and Hipster Death Rattle.
Photo of William Arce
WA: This issue has a number of very important writers in Latinx mystery genre: Michael Nava, Benjamin Alire Saenz and Lucha Corpi. I am really proud that we were able to include three interviews with three authors who have been very active in the field and who are finally receiving recognition for their fine work: Salvadoran author Marcos Villatoro, ex CIA operative turned author Carmen Amato, and Caribbean author Aya de León. If I had to recommend authors for someone new to the Latinx genre I would recommend Lucha Corpi’s Gloria Demasco’s series and Marco’s Villatoro’s Romilia Chacon crime fiction series. I point to these two authors because they have multiple novels featuring their same protagonists; they give readers an opportunity to grapple with many of the issues found in other Latinx detective novels.
What is the relevance of Latinx detective fiction now? How do these authors address questions of social justice, crime, institutional racism, and police brutality in their works?
MC: As long as they continue to observe and critique the machinations of power in politics, the legal system, and other institutions, detective and noir texts will always be relevant. Furthermore, as the demographics of the United States continue to change, Latinx texts will reflect an array of experiences to which an increasing number of readers can relate. Contemporary Latinx authors write from a variety of perspectives, and their protagonists include private eyes, outlaws, political activists, lawyers, sex workers, and members of law enforcement. They are also people from families with complicated histories of love and conflict. Each text offers a unique take on the ways in which Latinx people experience institutional racism, homophobia, crime, and police brutality, and many describe social justice strategies rooted in historical examples of movements and mobilizations that have contributed to real changes in the US. This diversity of perspectives and experiences helps readers to see (and often identify with) the humanity of characters in Latinx texts, which is just one reason this literature is so vital.
WA: If you think crime fiction is about cops and robbers, you are missing the point. Crime fiction has always been incredibly adept at addressing contemporary issues. In many ways the genre functions more as a stage upon which different cultural issues get played out; it transcends the limits of criminality and law enforcement. For example, mystery novels often interrogate familial ties, historical narratives, the sincerity of love, the privileges of economic classes, and so forth. The authors featured in this issue engage social ills such as institutional racism, police brutality, and immigrant persecution with crime fiction precisely because the genre is so pliable, so useful at highlighting social injustices that are built into the legal system. Inherent to the genre of crime fiction is a critique of that which is already institutionalized at the state or federal level. For those interested in issues of social justice, equity, diversity, and civil rights, this genre has much to offer.
Interview conducted and written by Amanda Matthews
