The Latin American Narconovel: Reality with Shakespeare in the Background Cover Image

Narkopowieść latynoamerykańska: rzeczywistość z Szekspirem w tle
The Latin American Narconovel: Reality with Shakespeare in the Background

Author(s): Adriana Sara Jastrzębska
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Other Language Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
Keywords: Colombia; drug trafficking; narco; crime fiction; narconovel

Summary/Abstract: Latin American literature is not rich in references to the works of Shakespeare, but rather focuses on its own tradition. The premise on which this article is based, however, is that the reality of the region displays Shakespearean characteristics.The aim of this article is to present a subgenre, or a literary convention, known as a narconovel. The configuration of the represented world in this noir novel variant is determined by the drug trade with its far-reaching social and cultural implications.The narconovel is an important part of the most recent literature in Colombia, Mexico, and other countries of the region. This article addresses associations and disassociations between the narconovel and the crime fiction convention, centering on Shakespearean motifs, related in this case to the concepts of power, crime, guilt, and punishment.

  • Issue Year: 27/2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 191-201
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Polish