Aspects of 'trans-' in La Reina del Sur

Abstract

‘Liquid modernity’ is a concept introduced by the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman to describe the nature of contemporary society in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In the liquid modernity of the postmodern era, Bauman argued that the traditional structures have become increasingly fluid and uncertain. This transition is driven by various factors, including globalization, rapid technological advancements, flexible labor markets, and the weakening of traditional social hierarchies. As a result, individuals find themselves in a state of constant flux, where they have to adapt and adjust to new challenges and opportunities continually. In the postmodernism era, the prefix ‘trans-’ is often used to denote various aspects of fluidity, transformation, and boundary-crossing. The use of ‘trans-’ challenges fixed categories and encourages a more dynamic and open-ended understanding of the world. The use of trans in academia is one of the Humanities attempts to contemplate the process of this change. From this point of view, this study aims to examine how these aspects of ‘trans-’ appear through La Reina del Sur from Arturo Pérez-Reverte.