Rubén Salazar Mallén: protagonist and writer of the crime genre

Abstract

Rubén Salazar Mallén had a career in literature that engaged with and coexisted alongside various ways of appreciating and observing culture and literature. During his life, he witnessed the culmination of the Mexican Revolution, the change of regime and economic and political structures, the rise of nationalisms, and the emergence of modern Mexico. These processes are reflected in his work, especially in those stories, essays, and novels that approach the so-called detective or noir genre, through which Salazar Mallén critiqued the politics and society of post-revolutionary Mexico. This article explores the facets the artist navigated and how, through his literary work, he understood Mexico in the first half of the 20th century.