Crims.cat – katalońska powieść kryminalna

Rekonesans

Abstract

Crims.cat – the Catalan Crime Novel. Reconnaissance

In recent decades, the crime fiction in its many variants and forms, has become one of the most important subgenres of contemporary literature, largely assuming the role of the social novel, which analyses the state of society and raises questions about its moral condition. It can be a literary export product, becoming a component of popular opinion and ideas concerning a country or a region (for example, the Scandinavian crime novel or the Colombian narconovela). In Spain, the crime fiction has been developing intensively since the mid- -1970s, with its first major themes being the Transición and the reckoning with the 20th century history. Over time, Barcelona, due to the work of authors such as Manuel Vázquez Montalbán or Eduardo Mendoza, has become a kind of capital of the crime fiction in Spain. This article is a reconnaissance in the world of the recent crime fiction written in Catalan, and presents its main themes, representatives and specific features. It also discusses the activities aimed at popularising and dissemination of the genre and its knowledge among the Catalan-speaking public.