Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction
Jerome H. Delamater, Ruth Prigozy (Editors)
Combining theoretical and practical approaches, this collection of essays explores classic detective fiction from a variety of contemporary viewpoints. Among the diverse perspectives are those which interrogate the way the genre reflects important social and cultural attitudes, contributes to a reader's ability to adapt to the challenges of daily life, and provides alternate takes on the role of the detective as an investigator and arbiter of "truth." Part I looks at the nature of and the audience for detective fiction, as well as at the genre as a literary form. This section includes an inquiry into the role of the detective; an application of object-relations psychology to the genre; and analyses of recent literary criticism positing that traditional detective fiction contained the seeds of its own subversion. Part II applies a variety of theoretical positions to Agatha Christie and her heirs in the British ratiocinative tradition. A concluding essay positions the genre within the middle-class traditions of the novel since its inception in the eighteenth century. Of interest to all scholars and students of detective fiction and British popular culture.
Categories:
Year:
1997
Edition:
1st
Publisher:
Greenwood Press
Language:
english
Pages:
221
ISBN 10:
0313304629
ISBN 13:
9780313304620
Series:
Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture
File:
PDF, 11.45 MB
IPFS:
,
english, 1997