A G eospatial and C artographic A nalysis of the Galician B lack G enre: the M ap as a T ool for a S ociology of S pace and for L iterary E ducation

Ifspaceis,ingeneral,akeypillarofnarratology,inthecaseofcrimenovelstherelevanceandloadofmeaningofspaceisparticularlyrelevant.Inthenoirgenre,spacesoftenconveysymbolicandsociologicalvalues,areintimatelylinkedtothenarrativeplotandconstitutemorethanamerespatialframework.Oftenthecrimetakestheformofamessage,andtheinvestigatorpresentshimselfasahermeneutistwhoreadsthesignsinscribedinspace.Thisspatialrelevanceisalsorevealedinthefactthatthereareperceptiblegeographicalmarksinthefunctioningofthegenre,ascanbeexemplifiedbytheemergenceoftheNordiccrimenovelorbytheroleplayedbythebigcity,aswellasbythefrequentpresenceofsymbolicspacespregnantwithasemioticchargesuchasislands. Startingfromthehypothesisthatthenoirgenreconstitutesaprivilegedvehiclefortheexpressionofgeospatialtensions,weintendtoanalyze,usinggeographicinformationsystems(GIS),thefunctioningofspaceintheGaliciannoirnovel,aswellasinaudiovisualfiction.Significantly,inrecentyearstheblackgenrehasemergedstronglyintheSpanishstatepreciselyinperipheralspaceswithacultureandlanguageofitsowninwhichidentitytensionsbetweensocialimaginariesareenormouslyenhanced.Thus,thetrilogyofBaztánbyDoloresRedondoandthecycleofLaciudadBlanca(TheWhiteCity)byEvaG.SáenzdeUrturihaveachievedenormousdiffusion,towhichtransmedialityhasalsocontributedthroughfilmadaptations.ItisnocoincidencethatinbothseriesthemurderstakeonaritualvaluethatentailsajourneythroughemblematicspacesandtraditionsofBasqueandNavarreseculture.Theresolutionofcrimesinvolvesdelvingintoculturalelements,spacesandmeaningsandestablishesacodethatremainsopaqueforthosewhodonotknowthegeographicalandculturalkeys.Beyondthepurposeofdisseminatingandpreservingculturaltraditionsandvalues,bothseriespointtothecentralityofspaceandthesocialimaginaryinthegenre.Infact,itcouldbesaidthattheriseofthenoirgenreinrecentyearshasadirectandnotaccidentalconnectionwiththespatialturnthatcharacterizesthepostmodernchronotope. TheemergenceoftheGaliciannoirnovelislate.CrimeenCompostela(1984)byCarlosReigosaisconsideredtheworkthatmarksthebeginningofthegenreinGalicia.Butinrecentyearswecanspeakofarealhatching.AndwhileintheGalicianliterarytraditiontheprimacycorrespondedtotheruralarea,thenoirgenrehasprivilegedtheurbanenvironment,becomingatrueproducerofurbanliterarygeographies.FacedwiththeinauguralpresenceofSantiagodeCompostela,VigohasemergedasthecityinwhichblackfictionissetinapreferentialwayinGalicia.FacedwiththeimpossibilityofcarryingoutacompleteemptyingofallthegeographicalreferencescontainedintheGaliciannoirfictions,wewillchoosetocaptureonmapsthepriorityspacesofsetting(geolocationofthecrime,investigationspaces...)thatallowustohave acartographictoolfortheinterpretationofsocialandterritorialmeanings.Bydevelopingthesemapswehopetoillustratethepotentialofliterarycartographytogenerateusefultoolsfortheanalysisandunderstandingoftheideological,identity,andsociologicalmechanismspresentintheconformationofliteraryspaces,aswellastoexploreitspotentialforliterarydisseminationandeducation.

Keywords

Spatial Humanities, Galician noir, literary cartography, black-genre, literary locations

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