<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> American mystery writer Tony Hillerman (1925-2008) achieved wide readership both within the United States and abroad, and, significantly, within the US both among white Americans and Native Americans. This article discusses Hillerman’s detective fiction firstly within the tradition of the genre and then focuses on particular themes and literary means the writer employs in order to disseminate knowledge about the Southwestern nations (tribes) among his readers using the framework of mystery (crime) fiction. Hillerman’s two literary detectives Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee, both of the Navajo Tribal Police, are analyzed and contrasted with female characters. Finally, the article analyzes the ways in which Hillerman makes the detectives’ intimate knowledge of the traditions, beliefs and rituals of the southwestern tribes and of the rough beauty of the landscape central to the novels’ plots, and how he presents cultural information. </p></abstract>

American mystery writer Tony Hillerman (1925-2008) achieved wide readership both within the United States and abroad, and, significantly, within the US both among white Americans and Native Americans. This article discusses Hillerman’s detective fiction firstly within the tradition of the genre and then focuses on particular themes and literary means the writer employs in order to disseminate knowledge about the Southwestern nations (tribes) among his readers using the framework of mystery (crime) fiction. Hillerman’s two literary detectives Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee, both of the Navajo Tribal Police, are analyzed and contrasted with female characters. Finally, the article analyzes the ways in which Hillerman makes the detectives’ intimate knowledge of the traditions, beliefs and rituals of the southwestern tribes and of the rough beauty of the landscape central to the novels’ plots, and how he presents cultural information.

Ethnicity and Social Critique in Tony Hilleman’s Crime Fiction

Department of English and American Studies at the University of Pardubice, Czech Republic

Prague Journal of English Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Ethnicity and Social Critique in Tony Hilleman\u2019s Crime Fiction"}

American mystery writer Tony Hillerman (1925-2008) achieved wide readership both within the United States and abroad, and, significantly, within the US both...

Ethnicity and Social Critique in Tony Hilleman’s Crime Fiction

Published Online: Sep 17, 2016

Page range: 141 - 158

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pjes-2016-0008

Keywords
Ethnic crime fiction, Tony Hillerman, Navajo Tribal Police, Southwestern landscape, hozho principle of harmony, Navajo mythology

© Faculty of Education, Charles University

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Ethnicity and Social Critique in Tony Hilleman’s Crime Fiction

Published Online: Sep 17, 2016

Page range: 141 - 158

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/pjes-2016-0008

KeywordsEthnic crime fiction, Tony Hillerman, Navajo Tribal Police, Southwestern landscape, hozho principle of harmony, Navajo mythology

© Faculty of Education, Charles University

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Ethnic crime fiction, Tony Hillerman, Navajo Tribal Police, Southwestern landscape, hozho principle of harmony, Navajo mythology