Crime novels are popular in Mexico because there is a need for justice: expert

Crime, passion and mystery are the themes that most attract fans of the crime novel, a literary genre that is about to turn 105 years old, starting from the first stories published in 1920 in the American magazine Black Mask, founded by H.L. Mencken. To celebrate, the 2024 Black Novel Festival was held, organized by the Library of Mexico and the independent publisher NitroPress, which brings together a large number of texts, comics and films.

As part of this meeting, the bibliographic exhibition is presented at the venue located in the Citadel. Detectives, gangsters, women and gunshots, Consisting of 60 copies of comics and texts belonging to the collection of the general room and the legal deposit of that institution, as well as titles from the personal libraries of Carlos Monsiváis, Jaime García Terrés, Alí ​​Chumacero, Antonio Castro Leal and Luis Garrido.

In interview with The Day, The curator of the exhibition, Martín Hernández González, spoke about the growing interest of readers in this genre that, beyond morbidity, invites reflection on the problems of society.

The academic explained that the selection of titles was very complicated, Well, we had more than 150 detected, and we were left with 70. The publisher NitroPress helped us a lot, since one of its strong lines is this genre. Our intention was for the public to know that great writers have always been fascinated by mystery, crime, violence, and how this affects society..

Stories with obstacles

When the crime novel emerged, in the 1920s, there was a negative social panorama (…) in the United States. In these stories there are many obstacles, a path that is neither pleasant nor positive. It is a call to denounce the violence that was experienced in those cities. It is not only morbid, but a complaintreiterated Martín Hernández González.

Unlike the detective novel, in which there is justice after an investigation, society is not abandoned and the function for the community is fulfilled, in the crime novel we see that the problem requires a solution: someone external who comes to investigate and solve the crime, but close to a path of revenge. There is no happy ending here and the context does not change, the expert explained.

According to Hernández González, the problems that these works exhibit are varied: police corruption, a portrait of criminal gangs and mafia members, lack and adverse conditions.

The crime novel, he continued, “was a reflection of the economic crisis and the mafia. It is something that is very similar to what happens with drug trafficking in Latin America. This panorama influences many writers today.

Lovers of this genre have increased due to society’s perception of today’s crimes. It is also closely related to the increase in content in newspaper red notices.

Gender in Mexico

For Mexicans, he added, crime novels are very popular; This goes hand in hand with the need for justice, because “it tells us about the lack of sociocultural aspects that shape creative aspects of current writers.

The absence of law and authority is not new. Our system is very weak and is greatly reflected in the literature. In these collections I discovered that these writers were also fans of the genre and that they followed up on these reflections.

The curator assured that this is a general claim: “In these stories the police do not help you solve anything at all, it is the protagonist who has to jump over obstacles, some of which are the uniformed men themselves.

Society feels very linked to these claims, and that is why we are also very interested in crime novels as a Mexican public. Curiously, these readings function as oases, because they are telling us what is happening in other parts of this country and at the same time allow us to understand the idiosyncrasy of those places. That is why this sample is importantconcluded Martín Hernández.

The Black Novel Festival ended this weekend with readings of the books Madafakers! from Macaria Spain; Eden AIP, by Manya Loria, and Orange light, by César Gándara. Yesterday, in the personal library of Antonio Castro Leal, it was read The devil’s gift, by Omar Delgado, and the novel an act of love, by Tania Tinajero.

The Demonios de la Ciudad film series was also included, in which films related to this genre were screened, such as The Maltese Falcon, Shadow of a Doubt, Gilda, Strangers on a Train y Chinatown.

The sample Detectives, gangsters, women and gunshots It will remain until November 24 in the Abraham Zabludovsky gallery of the México Library (Ciudadela 4, Centro neighborhood, Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office).