Routledge Detective Fiction in a Postcolonial and Transnational World

Taking up a neglected area in the study of the crime novel, this collection investigates the growing number of writers who adapt conventions of detective fiction to expose problems of law, ethics, and truth that arise in postcolonial and transnational communities. While detective fiction has been linked to imperialism and constructions of race from its earliest origins, recent developments signal the evolution of the genre into a potent framework for narrating the complexities of identity, citizenship, and justice in a postcolonial world. Among the authors considered are Vikram Chandra, Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez, Michael Ondaatje, Patrick Chamoiseau, Mario Vargas Llosa, Suki Kim, and Walter Mosley. The essays explore detective stories set in Latin America, the Caribbean, India, and North America, including novels that view the American metropolis from the point of view of Asian American, African American, or Latino characters. Offering ten new and original essays by scholars in the field, this volume highlights the diverse employment of detective fictions internationally, and uncovers important political and historical subtexts of popular crime novels. Review '... provides a good deal of enlightening and challenging material. ... [This book] bring[s] forward many new critics and unduly overlooked authors...' Clues 'Detective Fiction in a Postcolonial and Transnational World provides a good illustration of how detective fiction has evolved and adapted to a changing postcolonial world, and the book contains many insightful chapters.' Transnational Literature '... convincingly demonstrates the usefulness of the detective fiction paradigm to explore questions of postcolonial and globalized identity and justice. The wide-ranging, diverse, and multilingual selection of primary texts makes this a valuable source for scholars of postcolonialism and globalization.' Notes and Queries 'Pearson and Singer's strong collection builds self-consciously on recent studies ... but exceeds the scope and cultural range of its predecessors by including essays on detective fictions by authors from Martinique, Peru, India, and multi-ethnic communities in the United States.' Wasafiri About the Author Nels Pearson is Assistant Professor of English at Fairfield University, USa and Marc Singer is Assistant Professor of English at Howard University, USA