Leonardo Padura and the "New" Historical Novel

Authors

  • Anke Birkenmaier Indiana University, Bloomington

Keywords:

Literature, Criticism, Latin American History

Abstract

This paper argues that Leonardo Padura’s historical novel El hombre que amaba a los perros presents a continuation of sorts of the detective genre. In emphasing an inverted order of time and a witness’s investigation into the past of Trotski’s assassin, Padura construes a logic of defeat both for the witnesses and the actors of world history. The witness turned writer, the politician, and his assassin become victims of manipulative states, and the “new” historical novel, instead of capturing the aftermath of great historical events, is relegated to documenting the failure to adjust of the individual subject.

Author Biography

Anke Birkenmaier, Indiana University, Bloomington

Andrew Birkenmaier is Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Published

2015-10-01

How to Cite

Birkenmaier, A. (2015). Leonardo Padura and the "New" Historical Novel. A Contracorriente: Una Revista De Estudios Latinoamericanos, 13(1), 13–25. Retrieved from https://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/acontracorriente/article/view/1417

Issue

Section

Dossier: Post-Detection Padura