La triada neopolicial de Bernardo Fernández: Tiempo de alacranes, Hielo negro y Cuello blanco

Abstract

The Mexican neo-police genre offers new narrative modes. This development is confirmed by studying three novels by Bernardo Fernández: Tiempo de alacranes (2005), Hielo negro (2011) y Cuello blanco (2013). After a brief contextualization of the Mexican police genre, we propose that the work of Fernández introduces significant structural changes to the neo-police model. Brevity and fragmentation, double plot and intratextuality are strategies used by the author in order to respect and transform the narrative tradition. With these strategies, we conclude, Fernández not only sanctions the essential features of the genre, but also goes so far that his work evolves into a Baudrillardian simulacrum: fiction is recognized as fiction, contrary to the role of social criticism that was attributed to the neo-police genre in its origins in the seventies.