The Abject in Claudia Piñeiro’s <i>El tiempo de las moscas</i>

In Tuya (2005), Elena Sabe (2007), and Catedrales (2020), Claudia Piñeiro, one of Argentina’s best-known crime fiction writers, depicts female middle-class characters who are instigators of women’s deaths. On one hand, this writer is critical of middle-class Argentine women, while on the other she fights for women’s rights. In her narrative Piñeiro critiques strict and old-fashioned traditions while also addressing the plight of those who dare transgress them. This paradox is present in her most recent novel, El tiempo de las moscas , whose female protagonist is Inés, the far from charismatic murderer of Tuya, who, having served her prison sentence, is now released into civilian life. By drawing on Julia Kristeva’s concepts, this paper investigates the use of the abject in El tiempo de las moscas .