Traducir el policial. Aproximaciones al género en La traducción (1998), de Pablo De Santis

Abstract

The scattered and limited studies on the work of Pablo De Santis tend to consider that his texts are crossed by the detective genre, but at the same time there are no productions justifying this claim. Therefore, in this paper I focus on La traduccion (originally published in 1998 and finalist of the Premio Planeta in 1997), with the intention of analyzing the ways in which this novel uses and works with different aspects of the detective genre. First, I analyze the double spatial delimitation and the presence of a foreign language as elements that allow us to associate La traduccion with the classic detective fiction. Then I focus on the problem of the nationalization of detective fiction and the figure of the superintendent, two factors that allow us to associate the novel with the local tradition of detective fiction. I also analyze the history of sea lions, parallel to the main plot, in which I find ways to set a link with the hard-boiled fiction. Finally, based on the various issues identified, I finish the paper with a reflection on the possible uses of the concept of genre. With the sum of these elements, I see that La traduccion expresses a deep knowledge and precise work of De Santis with the detective genre, even though the author denies its character of detective fiction.