Theories of money in Argentine crime fiction

Journal article

Much recent writing on crime fiction and on Latin-American crime fiction in particular has focused on the genre's potential for social and political critique. This article aims to examine the specific case of money in Argentine crime fiction. It argues that in a number of Argentine novels dealing with crime, money is more than just a leitmotif or theme: it is a character in itself. Money has a role to play, almost a certain protagonism which, in some cases, is even titular. Furthermore, one can identify what might be called ‘theories of money’ in crime novels. Novelists are interested not just in the way that money motivates or changes people's behaviour but also in how money itself behaves. Through examining money's role in crime, novelists are asking what money actually is, a question that to this day baffles many economists. We aim, therefore, to trace a lineage in Argentine fiction of novelists who give money a central role in fictions about crime, starting with Roberto Arlt, and then moving on to more recent writers, Ricardo Piglia, Ernesto Mallo, Carlos Gamerro and Alan Pauls.

Authors: Bollig, B

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Journal: Bulletin of Spanish Studies
• Volume: 94
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 505-525
• Publication date: 2016-10-27
• Acceptance date: 2014-11-28
• DOI: 10.1080/14753820.2016.1245474
• EISSN: 1478-3428
• ISSN: 1475-3820
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR