Reading as Theorizing: A Conjecture Based on the Savage Detectives’ Mode of Inquiry

In this essay, readings from three different areas are made to intersect in order to produce a conjecture. The frst area is social-scientifc methods and in particular recent discussion on theorizing. The second area is a sub-tradition that inspects crime and detective fction as a refection on social scientifc research. The third type of readings are literary analyses of detective fction. The conjecture is that a book of fction—Roberto Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives— can be used to think about a surprisingly unnoticed moment in discussions on social scientifc theorization, namely the role of reading. New ideas in social science often require a self-genealogical work. When making new theories, social researchers need to read their antecessors in order to situate their work so it can actually make sense as a social scientifc contribution. The fctionalized inquiry presented in The Savage Detectives can be read as a refection on this specifc theorizing operation.