El extraño caso del detective que volvió de su propia muerte

Abstract

Since 1841, the private investigator, character that connects the police procedural  with  the  intellectual  and  critical  activity,  is  regenerated  in the most kaleidoscopic versions. This work precisely points to recognize that  behind  the  death  of  Erik  Lönnrot,  in  “Death  and  the  Compass” (original Spanish title: “La muerte y la brújula”), the detective resurrects in Emilio Renzi, from “The Madwoman and the Story of a Crime” (original Spanish title: “La Loca y el relato del crimen”). This transition accounts for  the  transformation  of  a  Latin-American  reflexive  model,  proper  to a  literate  culture,  led  by  exceptional  men  that  trust  in  the  power  and centrality of words, to one where the advancement of globalization and mass  media  have  undermined  the  empire  of  letters,  now  in  charge  of professionals who inhabit the antipodes of the “illustrated city”, limited by the specialization and the institutionalization.