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Dissecting Patricia Cornwell's Doctor Kay Scarpetta in the Forensic Laboratory

2011; University of La Laguna; Issue: 63 Linguagem: Inglês

2530-8335

Carme Farré Vidal,

Contemporary Literature and Criticism

This paper studies the symbolism of the forensic laboratory in Patricia Cornwell's forensic detective fiction, a genre which this author pioneered at the beginning of the 1990s. As the representative space in this genre, the detailed analysis of the forensic laboratory -particularly in the novels Postmortem (1990), Scarpetta (2008) and The Scarpetta Factor (2009) as characteristic examples in the series- suggests the essential identity features in the presentation of self of the woman hero in the series, Kay Scarpetta. It also showcases gender interactions between the woman forensic scientist and both those dead and alive involved in the investigation. In this way, the forensic laboratory acquires its full meaning for the revelation of the main pieces of the puzzle of Kay Scarpetta's feminist discourse.