Petra Delicado
Main character: Inspector Petra Delicado
Country of origin: Spain
Main location: Barcelona, Spain
Creator: Alicia Giménez-Bartlett
Born in: Almansa, Spain
Born on: June 10, 1951
Nationality: Spanish
Literary series started in: 1996, Ritos de muerte (Eng. transl.: Death Rites)
Original language: Spanish
Publisher: Grijalbo-Mondadori; Plaza & Janés; Planeta; Destino
Number of books (original editions): 11
Latest title published in: 2017, Mi querido asesino en serie (Eng. transl.: My Dear Serial Killer)
Translations: Yes (more then 15 languages)
Television series title: Petra Delicado
Television series started in: 1999
Producer: Estudios Picasso and Lolafilms, Spain
Number of seasons: 1
Transnational distribution: No
Television series title: Petra
Television series started in: 2020
Producer: Cattleya and Bartlebyfilm, Italy
Number of seasons: 1
Transnational distribution: No
Case study rationale:
The first novel in the inspector Petra Delicado cycle, Ritos de muerte (Death Rites), was published by Alicia Giménez-Bartlett in 1996. To date the series counts 11 books, plus a sort of fictional autobiography, Sin muertos (Without dead), the latest work published by the writer in 2020. In the first novel, Petra, an archivist at the Cuerpo National de Polícia in Barcelona, is called to investigate the rape of four young women. Also assigned to the case is a senior agent, Garzon Férmin. The two colleagues constitute quite an odd, interesting duo: trying to preserve her authority in front of an experienced male detective, Petra acts like a rude and unfriendly chief, while Férmin, an old-style man, confines himself to a straight execution of the orders he receives. Gradually, the two inspectors get to know each other better, so much as to become friends. However, the function of this strange duo is to mirror and illustrate the various and ambivalent aspects of their country, Spain, which Gimémez Bartlett portrays as divided between male chauvinism, backwardness, social inequality and poverty. In this perspective, Petra’s unconventional behaviour and refuse to meet female stereotypes introduce a feminist viewpoint in the European crime genre, subverting the traditional, male representation of the sleuth figure. The character of Petra Delicado was first transposed to the Spanish screens already in 1999, in a television series broadcast on Telecinco. In 2020, the huge success of Giménez-Bartlett’s novels in Italy (more than one million and a half copies sold) inspired a second television adaptation that moved the action from Barcelona to Genoa, on the Ligurian Sea. Produced by Cattleya and broadcast on Sky, Petra is an interesting example of a Mediterranean Noir with Nordic accents. The series cunningly transposes the social themes explored by Alicia Giménez-Bartlett in her novels in the Italian context. The project has worked so well that the strong figure of Petra has been compared to another Italian fictional female detective, the public prosecutor Imma Tataranni, created by Mariolina Venezia.
Online research resources
Watch
The trailer of Petra, Italian TV Series [in Italian]:
The trailer of Petra, Italian TV Series [in Italian]:
An interview to Alicia Giménez-Bartlett on her novel Crimenes que nunca olvidaré [in Spanish]:
An interview to Alicia Giménez-Bartlett on her novel Crimenes que nunca olvidaré [in Spanish]:
Alicia Giménez-Bartlett talks about her new book, Autobiografia di Petra Delicado, 14 January 2021 [in Italian]:
Alicia Giménez-Bartlett talks about her new book, Autobiografia di Petra Delicado, 14 January 2021 [in Italian]:
Alicia Giménez-Bartlett presents the italian traslation of the first novel in the Petra Delicado cycle, Mio caro Serial Killer, at Libreria Palazzo Roberti, 13 aprile 2018 [in Italian]:
Alicia Giménez-Bartlett presents the italian traslation of the first novel in the Petra Delicado cycle, Mio caro Serial Killer, at Libreria Palazzo Roberti, 13 aprile 2018 [in Italian]:
Entretien littéraire with Alicia Giménez-Bartlett, Montpellier, 30e Comédie du livre [in French]:
Entretien littéraire with Alicia Giménez-Bartlett, Montpellier, 30e Comédie du livre [in French]:
An interview to Paola Cortellesi and Andrea Pennacchi, the interpreters of Petra, the Italian TV series Petra [in Italian]:
An interview to Paola Cortellesi and Andrea Pennacchi, the interpreters of Petra, the Italian TV series Petra [in Italian]:
“La Novela de la Crisis”, an interview to Alicia Giménez-Bartlett, Cercle Economia, Ciclo Literatura, 2017 [in Spanish]:
“La Novela de la Crisis”, an interview to Alicia Giménez-Bartlett, Cercle Economia, Ciclo Literatura, 2017 [in Spanish]:
Explore
Map of European Transmedial fictional worlds by country of origins in the Atlas section on DETECt portal
Map of European Transmedial fictional worlds by main locations in the Atlas section on DETECt portal
Map of European Transmedial fictional worlds with female protagonist in the Atlas section on DETECt portal
Map showing the spread of Mediterranean Noir in Europe in the Atlas section on DETECt portal
Read
- Fumarola, Silvia. “Paola Cortellesi: Avrei voluto essere libera come Petra, almeno una volta nella vita“. La Repubblica, 13 September 2020. Web. [in Italian]
- Fasoli, Giacomo, “Petra, su Sky la serie tratta dai romanzi di Alicia Giménez Bartlett”. Style Magazine, 14 September 2020. Web. [in Italian]
- Casavella, Francisco ; Cercas, Javier ; Bartlett, Alicia Giménez ; Ordóñez, Marcos ; Tizón, Eloy, “Cómo escojo los lugares de mis novelas”. El Ciervo 50, 605/606 (agosto 2001): 33-36. [in Spanish]
- Tyras, Georges, “Novela negra española: Encuentros del tercer milenio“. Iberoamericana: América Latina-España-Portugal, 2.7 (settembre 2002): 97-110. [in Spanish]
- Oxford, Jeffrey, “Petra Delicado: A Hard-Boiled Police Investigator”. South Central Review: The Journal of the South Central Modern Language Association, 27 (2010): 91-104. [in English]
- Sánchez Bianca Estela, “Sobre Alicia Giménez Bartlett”. Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, 729 (marzo 2011). [in Spanish]
- Thompson-Casado, Kathleen. “Petra Delicado, A Suitable Detective for a Feminist?”. Letras Femeninas, 28.1 (2002): 71-83 [in English].
- Chung-Ying Yang. “Petra Delicado y la (de)construcción del género y de la identidad”. Hispania, 93.4 (december 2010): 594-604. [in Spanish]
- Tisnado, Carmen. “Petra Delicado y la síntesis de ser mujer y ser policía”. Acta Académica (2008). Web. [in Spanish]
- Tirone, Mariadonata Angela. “Petra Delicado: identità e ruoli di genere nella serie di Alicia Giménez Bartlett”. Revista Internacional de Culturas y Literaturas, 21, 174-188. [in Italian]
- Molinaro, Nina L. Policing Gender and Alicia Giménez Bartlett’s Crime Fiction. Routledge, 2015. [in English]
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