Rubem Fonseca and Noir Literature

Authors

  • Pere Comellas Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/abriu2014.3.3

Keywords:

Rubem Fonseca, Brazilian crime fiction, violence in literature, brutalism

Abstract

Rubem Fonseca is considered a key author in the introduction of crime fiction in Brazil. This article reviews his contribution to the genre and analyzes the specifics of his narrative in the context of Brazilian literature, in which Fonseca breaks from and exceeds the traditional dichotomies between high and popular literature. Fonseca becomes part of the distinct tradition of crime fiction, which he reinterprets differently in his short stories by giving voice to the marginalized, and in his novels by incorporating elements of hardboiled, noir fiction, and even whodunit. The character of Mandrake is situated in a context that increasingly includes paraliterary concerns.

How to Cite

Comellas, P. (2014). Rubem Fonseca and Noir Literature. Abriu: Estudos De Textualidade Do Brasil, Galicia E Portugal, (3), 51–69. https://doi.org/10.1344/abriu2014.3.3