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Domesticated Slovenians in detective novels of Avgust DemšarPrimož Mlačnik, 2022, published scientific conference contribution abstract
Abstract: I investigate the politics of representation in the detective novels of Avgust Demšar, a prolific
Slovenian author of ten detective novels, by deconstructing their narratives and the detective
triad. The novels Thin Ice(Tanek led), Europe(Evropa), Miloš, The Island(Otok) and The Church
(Cerkev) are presented through the perspective of domestic noir. Demšar's novels criticise
bigotry and negotiate with the detective genre's inherent culturally conservative topos,
oriented towards re-establishing the social status quo. At the manifest narrative level,
homophobia and repressive sexual morale are delegitimised through the character of a
murderous homophobic mother and politically correct lesbian detectives Nika Lavrič and
macho detective Miloš, and by an emphatic male detective Martin Vrenko. However, repressive
sexual morale is affirmed on the level of relationships between men and women or criminals
and victims. Unweddedness, non-heteronormativity, divorce or adultery, both categorical pairs
share archetypal sins of the patriarchal Christian imaginarium. Therefore, the ambivalent
méconnaissance between affirmation and negation of cultural conservatism offers a unique
view into contemporary Slovenian society's norms, fears, and prevalent ideological ideas. The
norm of the stable monogamous partnership and the fear of private matters becoming public
function as the elusive protection against social evil.
Keywords: domestic noir, detective novels, politics of representation, cultural conservatism
Published in RUNG: 07.07.2022; Views: 1081; Downloads: 7
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