Crossing genre boundaries: H. J. Golakai's Afropolitan chick-lit mysteries

Crime fiction by women writers across the globe has in recent years begun to explore the position of women detectives within post-feminist cultural contexts, moving away from the explicit refusal of the heterosexual romance plot in earlier feminist ‘hard-boiled’ fiction. In this article, I analyse Hawa Jande Golakai's The Lazarus Effect (2011) and The Score (2015) as part of the tradition of crime fiction by women writers in South Africa. Joining local crime writers such as Angela Makholwa, Golakai not only questions orthodox conceptions of gender and sexuality in traditional iterations of the crime novel, but also combines elements of chick-lit with the crime plot. Reading the archetypal quest structure of the two genres against the background of Sara Ahmed's cultural critique of happiness, I argue that Golakai inventively recasts the recent sub-genre of the chick-lit mystery from the perspective of an Afropolitan detective. Her detective tenaciously undercuts the future-directed happiness script that structures conventional chick-lit and detective novels with their respective focus on finding a fulfilling heterosexual, monogamous romantic relationship, and the resolution of the crime and restoration of order. In this way, the novels defy the frequently assumed apolitical nature of chick-lit texts and also allow us to reimagine the idea of Afropolitanism, outside of its dominant consumerist form, as a critical Afropolitanism that emerges from an openness to be affected by the unhappiness and suffering of others.

DESARROLLO DE LAS DETECTIVES EN LA LITERATURA CONTEMPORÁNEA

ResumenLa novela de detectives es el marco idóneo para las características arquetípicas de las mujeres. Tradicionalmente las mujeres han sido culpadas por su curiosidad, atentas siempre a la vida de los demás; se les desea silenciosas y capaces de aguantar sin perder la calma los rigores de confinamientos prolongados. Paciencia, quietud y curiosidad construyen la perfecta detective, capaz de observar en las circunstancias más adversas a los sospechosos. En Inglaterra, donde surgieron las primeras detectives literarias, éstas han nacido prácticamente con el propio género policiaco. Se analiza su devenir con referencia a las autoras más significativas a lo largo de la historia.Palabras clave: mujeres, detectives, novela inglesa, novela nórdica, novela española.English Title: Development of Women Detectives in Contemporary LiteratureAbstract: Taking into account the archetypal characteristics attributed to women, the role of detective appears to be eminently suited to them: women were traditionally considered as gossips; moreover, for centuries, men have wanted women to be quiet, calm and somewhat confined. That combination of patience, calm and curiosity makes for the perfect detective, capable of surveillance of suspects even in difficult circumstances. Women detectives surfaced in English Literature from the outset of the genre. This paper outlines their evolution and also refers to the most famous women crime writers and their fictional detectives.Key words: women, detectives, English novels, Nordic novels, Spanish novels.La novela de detectives es el marco idóneo para las características arquetípicas de las mujeres. Tradicionalmente las mujeres han sido culpadas por su curiosidad, atentas siempre a la vida de los demás; se les desea silenciosas y capaces de aguantar sin perder la calma los rigores de confinamientos prolongados. Paciencia, quietud y curiosidad construyen la perfecta detective, capaz de observar en las circunstancias más adversas a los sospechosos. En Inglaterra, donde surgieron las primeras detectives literarias, éstas han nacido prácticamente con el propio género policiaco. Se analiza su devenir con referencia a las autoras más significativas a lo largo de la historia.