Sexuality and the Chicana/o detective: Identity and violence in Alicia Gaspar De Alba and Michael Nava’s mystery fiction

Abstract

This doctoral thesis looks at how queer Chicana/o detectives investigate, from an outsider/insider point of view, identity politics and violence as related to sexuality and gender roles. In particular, this thesis aims to make a comparative analysis between the mystery works of Chicana/o writers Michael Nava and Alicia Gaspar de Alba. This study is predominantly informed by Chicana/o, Detective Fiction, Feminist and Queer Studies. Until the 1970s, the dominant traditional discourse in detective fiction had placed ethnic and homosexual characters in a marginal position. Traditional mystery narratives subordinated and limited these characters to a negative representation. In the last decades, this restrictive style has gradually morphed with the introduction of ethnic and queer sleuths. The purpose of my research is to examine how detective fiction has been a suitable genre, for Nava and Gaspar de Alba, to explore sexuality issues within the Chicana/o community and examine homophobia and violence in a transnational context. The inclusion of indigenous and non-indigenous critical theories to support this research will allow this thesis to offer an emic and etic approach to Chicana/o culture. It will also negotiate differences and similarities between those theories developed from inside the Chicano culture and those constructed from the outside