this dissertation concerns r.m. roster's first three novels. the tinieblas trilogy, a fourth novel entitled carmichael's dog, and his non-fictional account of panamanian history, in the time o f the tyrants. the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to acquaint readers with roster’s writing, to describe how plots unfold and characters develop; second, to examine the various narrative strategies at work in the texts, the ways ' roster constructs through language his "fictional” latin american republic of tinieblas and his “non-fictional” history of panama. the dissertation demonstrates how roster’s narrative strategies in these writings serve to undermine stable, singular textual interpretation.