The article addresses the problem of identity, which at the turn of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has become one of the most significant issues in both philosophy and literary studies. Individuality is increasingly perceived as a dynamically changing, “fragmented,” and unstable subject. In this context, the concept of hybrid identity enters scholarly discourse, describing human existence at the intersection of social, cultural, and linguistic planes. A vivid example of this phenomenon is found in the prose of Eduardo Mendoza, which combines elements of social satire, the historical novel, detective fiction, the picaresque novel, and fantasy, thereby constructing a multilayered image of postmodern reality. The aim of the present study is to identify and describe the principal mechanisms of the formation of hybrid identity in Eduardo Mendoza’s novel The Adventure of the Ladies’ Hairdresser, as well as to determine the role of this identity in the organization of the narrative, the construction of the system of characters, and the dynamics of the plot. The phenomenon of hybrid identity, considered as an autonomous and systematic object of comprehensive theoretical and narratological research, remains to date insufficiently studied.

KeywordsКеywords - Eduardo Mendoza hybrid identity postmodern novel detective fiction parody grotesque “fragmented” subject.