Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature Commons^™

Utopia, Archive, And Anarchy In Los Siete Hijos De Simenon By Ramón Díaz Eterovic, Lila Mcdowell Carlsen

Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature

The detective narratives by Ramón Díaz Eterovic (Chile 1956) address some of Latin America’s most relevant socio-political problems, such as the disappeared, racial discrimination, drug trafficking, corruption, social oppression, and ecological negligence. While some critics have emphasized specific social issues of the new detective novel and, in particular, the novel by Díaz Eterovic studied here, Los siete hijos de Simenon (2000) ‘The Seven Sons of Simenon,’ less attention has been placed on the ideological and ethical foundation from which these social issues emerge. This novel displays a utopian perspective that points directly to a distorted system of values evident during …