If nothing changes and everything goes as plan, it looks as if I will get to design and teach my (almost) dream course next semester. It's one of those university-wide literature requirement that every student has to take (we have a really heavy core curriculum here), with a very vague name (not exactly this, but something like "Ethics, Society and Literature"). It is taught in English, and both the English department and the Modern Language Department offer sections of it. Everybody gets to teach whatever they want, as long as it somehow fits the title. If nothing changes, I'm teaching it next semester, and I want to make it a course on Contemporary Latin American crime fiction. I said it's an "almost" dream course because I will be restricted to whatever has been translated into English. Ideally, I would just do Argentina. For some reason, not that many "canonical" contemporary crime novels from Argentina have been translated (while most of Leonardo Padura and Paco Ignacio Taibo has, I believe). So I need to do more research on what's available, but I get to teach one of my favorite topics!!!!
I'm beginning my research into what's been translated. Do you know of any specific Latin American crime novel (from, say, the past 30 years) that have been translated? Any help will be appreciated.
I haven't read it, but "The Oxford Murders" by Guillermo Martinez, is one. Biorges' "Six problems for don Isidro Parodi." It's not Argentine, but Bolaño's "The Savage Detectives" and "Distant Star" are translated. From Brazil, a lot of Patricia Melo's novels have been translated (e.g. Killer). Sounds like a fun course!
ReplyDeleteAwesome course! I'd recommend an excerpt from Bolaño's 2666. Also, pretty sure lots of Saer's stuff has been translated, including The Witness by fabulous translator Margaret Jull Costa.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendations, keep them coming!!! I'll probably pass on Martinez book, not exactly what I am trying to convey in the course. I'll look into Patricia Melo and Fonseca, that's for sure. Saer is another good idea. I will probably include also Piglia's Plata Quemada (it is translated, although I do not know the quality).
ReplyDeleteAs I said, keep the suggestions coming.
Claudia Pineiro--Thursdays Widows, All Yours
ReplyDeleteGood call. I only read All Yours, I need to read Thursdays Widows.
ReplyDeleteYes, be sure to read Piñeiro. I imagine that her most recent novel, Betibu, will be published in translation before too long. Here are some more Argentine crime novels that have been translated to English-- by Juan Jose Saer: The Investigation (a fantastic novel!); Mempho Giardinelli: Tenth Circle and Sultry Moon; Guillermo Orsi: No One Loves a Policeman and Holy City; Ernesto Mallo: Needle in a Haystack and Sweet Money.
DeleteP. S. I found a few more. Eduardo Sacheri: The Secret in Their Eyes (made into a very good movie), Guillermo Martínez: The Book of Murder (this is the translation of La muerte lenta de Luciana B.—I liked it better than The Oxford Murders and it is set in Argentina), Tomás Eloy Martínez: Purgatory (more of a mystery/ghost story than a crime novel), Elena Osorio: My Name Is Light (translation of A viente años, Luz—a thriller about a daughter of desaparecidos finding her father in Spain), Laura Alcoba: The Rabbit House (a memoir of a childhood living with parents who are Montoneros). By the way, the original Spanish title of Mallo’s Sweet Money is El delincuente argentino. Also, I gave you the wrong name for the translation of Las viudas de los jueves—it is Thursday Night Widows. It has been made into a movie, but does not seem to be available in the USA format.
DeleteAnonymous, thank you so much! I feel like my course will be a fantastic one. The only two novels I really wished were translated and are not (because then I would include them) are Feinmann's Ultimos Dias de la victima and Juan Martini's Puerto Apache.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Best of luck. It would be interesting to see the novels you end up choosing for the course.
DeleteI'll let you know the final list. So far, I'm sure I'll include (in English, obviously) "Plata Quemada", "Nadie Quiere a un Policia", "Las Viudas de los Jueves" y "El Secreto y las Voces" (it's being translate in April).
ReplyDeleteThanks--it looks like an interesting group of novels. I was interested to know that "El secreto y las voces" is being translated. I am sure that it will be a fascinating course.
DeleteIt will be translated as "An Open Secret", and will be released on April 10th.
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