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Introductionto the Analysis of Crime Fiction

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Introductionto the Analysis of Crime Fiction MILDADANYT INTRODUCTIONTO THE ANALYSIS OF CRIME FICTION AUSERFRIENDLYGUIDE VYTAUTASMAGNUSUNIVERSITY KAUNAS2011 RecenzentKristinaAurylait(VDU) Svarstyta VDU Humanitarini moksl fakulteto Angl filologijos katedros posdyje 20100605 (protokoloNr.5)irVDUHumanitarinimokslfakultetoTarybosposdyje20100605(protokoloNr.3). ISBN9789955R126980 ©M.Danyt,2011 ©VytautoDidžiojouniversitetas,2011 Page|2 PREFACEFORTHOSEUSINGTHISLEARNINGAID Welcometoaverypleasantexperienceinreadingandthinkingaboutoneofthemost popularliterarygenres–crimefiction–whoserootsgobackfarinhumanculture,but whichhasacquiredaparticularkindofformsincethelate19thcentury.Crimefiction, whetheritisanintellectualpuzzleorathrillingactionpackednarrativeinbookor cinematicform,isgreatfuntoread.Still,althoughpopulargenreslikethiswerelong dismissedas‘lightreading’,‘escapistreading’andeven‘trash’,crimefiction,alongwith otherpopularculturalphenomena,ismorecomplexthanitmayappear. Thepurposeofthislearningaidistoprovidethekindofbasicinformationthathelpsyou analyseaparticularworkofcrimefiction.Oftenstudentsbecomeconfusedbythevariety ofdefinitionstheyfindincriticalsources.Inthisshorttext,themostgenerallyaccepted featuresofcrimefictioningeneralaregiveninthefirstsection,whilelaterdifferentsub genresarepresented:theirgeneralcharacteristicsandhistory,alongwithexamplesof majorwriters,followedbyalistofspecificfeatures.Foreachgenre,thelistfollowsthe sameorderwiththesamekeyideassothatitiseasytocompareonevarietyofcrime fictiontoanother. Furthermore,exercisesthatencouragecreativethinkingareprovidedthroughoutthe learningaid.Youcandotheseonyourownorwithothers.Sincecrimefictionissucha popularform,almosteveryoneofushasreadbooksorseenfilmsthatbelongtothe genre.Allthisfamiliaritywiththegenreisusefulindecidingwhatkindofsubgenreyour textorfilmbelongsto.Youwillfinditinterestingtoseethatmanyofthelistsof characteristicsIofferarealreadyfamiliartoyou,thoughyoumayneverhavethought aboutthetextsandfilmsinthisway. Attheendofthelearningaid,therearesomeexamplesofcrimefiction:youcansee whetherornotyoucanassignthemtoaparticulargenre.Theannotatedlistofreferences isnotintendedtobecomplete.Asidefrompointingoutveryusefulbooksinouruniversity library,itisintendedtohelpyoufindcriticalmaterialontheinternet. Goodluckwithyourwork!Ienjoyedpreparingthislearningaid,andtaketheopportunity tothankmanystudentsinthepastwhohavemademethinkmoreseriouslyaboutcrime fictionbychoosingtowritetheircoursepapersorthesesonthissubject. Dr.MildaDanyt June29,2010 Page|3 TABLEOFCONTENTS ANALYSINGCRIMEFICTIONASANARRATIVEGENRE5 1. WHATISCRIMEFICTION? 5 2. ARESUSPENSETHRILLERSALSOPARTOFCRIMEFICTION? 5 YOURINPUT:1 3. THEPREHISTORYOFMODERNCRIMEFICTIONINENGLISH 6 4. ARTHURCONANDOYLE’SSHERLOCKHOLMESSTORIES:THEBEGINNINGSOFDETECTIVE CRIMEFICTIONINENGLISH 8 YOURINPUT:2 5. GOLDENAGECRIMEFICTION:ITSHISTORYANDCHARACTERISTICS 11 YOURINPUT:3 6 WHATARETHEMAJORCHARACTERISTICSOFGOLDENAGECRIMEFICTION? 17 7. HARDBOILEDORNOIRCRIMEFICTION:ITSHISTORYANDCHARACTERISTICS 19 YOURINPUT:4 8. RAYMONDCHANDLER’STHEBIGSLEEPASANEXAMPLEOFTHEHARDBOILEDDETECTIVENOVEL 22 9. WHATARETHEMAJORCHARACTERISTICSOFHARDBOILEDCRIMEFICTION? 24 10. WOMENINHARDBOILEDCRIMEFICTION:FATALWOMENANDWOMENDETECTIVES 26 11. THEPOLICEPROCEDURALASANOTHERKINDOFCRIMEFICTION:ITSHISTORY ANDCHARACTERISTICS 29 YOURINPUT:5 12. WHATARETHEMAJORCHARACTERISTICSOFPOLICEPROCEDURALS? 31 13. SUSPENSETHRILLERS:HOWDOTHEYDIFFERFROMDETECTIVEFICTION? 33 14. WHATARETHEMAJORCHARACTERISTICSOFTHRILLERS? 37 15. NEWERTRENDSINCRIMEFICTION:ANEXPLOSIONOFSUBRGENRESANDCROSSOVERGENRES 38 16. THEPOLICEOFFICERASDETECTIVEINCONTEMPORARYCRIMEFICTIONSERIES: SUPERDETECTIVES,FATHERLYFIGURES,ANDMAVERICKS 40 17. P.D.JAMES’CHIEFINSPECTORDALGLIESHSERIES:THESUPERDETECTIVE 40 18. RUTHRENDELL’SCHIEFINSPECTORWEXFORDSERIES:THEFATHERLYPOLICEDETECTIVE 43 19. IANRANKIN’SINSPECTORREBUSSERIES:THEMAVERICKPOLICEMAN 45 20. KATHYREICHS’DRTEMPERANCEBRENNANSERIES:THEFEMALEPROFESSIONAL INTHEPOLICETEAM 48 WORKSCITED 51 EXERCISES 53 ANSWERSTOTHEEXERCISES55 PRACTICALADVICETOCARRYINGOUTRESEARCHONCRIMEFICTION56 Page|4 ANALYSINGCRIMEFICTIONASANARRATIVEGENRE 1. WHATISCRIMEFICTION? “Crimefiction”isoneofseveralnamesgiventooneofthemostpopularofnarrative genrestoday.Thistermisverybroad,asitincludesanystorythathasacrimeandits solutionasacentralfeatureofitsplot.Theoretically,WilliamShakespeare’splayMacbeth, whichdepictsthemurderofakingandtheeventualrevelationthatthiswasdoneby Macbethandhiswife,couldbecalledcrimefiction.However,literaryspecialistsreserve thetermcrimefictionforamorerecentgenrethatdevelopedinthelate19thcentury,in whichthereismoremysteryaboutthecrimethathastakenplace.Inthesenarratives,a gooddealofthetextisconcernedwiththeefforttosolvethemysteryofthecrime.In Macbeth,althoughMacbethtriestothrowtheguiltonothermen,thosearoundhim almostimmediatelyrealizethatheistherealmurdererandstarttocollectanarmyagainst him. Therefore,thenecessaryelementsofcrimefictioninthepastonehundredyearshave includedthefollowing. Acrime,mostoftenmurder,iscommittedearlyinthenarrative. Thereareavarietyofsuspectswithdifferentmotives. Acentralcharacterformallyorinformallyactsasthedetective. Thedetectivecollectsevidenceaboutthecrimeanditsvictim. Usuallythedetectiveinterviewsthesuspects,aswellaswitnesses. Thedetectivesolvesthemysteryandindicatestherealcriminal. Usuallythiscriminalisnowarrestedorotherwisepunished. Sincetheelementofmysteryissoimportant,andthecrimeorcrimesaremostoften murder,thesenarrativesarealsoknownas“murdermysteries.”Theroleofdetectiveis alsoconsideredessential;therefore,anotherterm,“detectivefiction”,isalsocommon. 2. ARESUSPENSETHRILLERSALSOPARTOFCRIMEFICTION? Suspensethrillersarecloselyrelatedtocrimefiction.Onecanfindliteraryspecialistswho arguethattheyformaseparategenrewithitsowncharacteristics.Certainly,crimesdo takeplaceinasuspensethriller,andthecentralcharacterorcharactersoftenfunctionas detectivestryingtosolvethesecrimes.Still,theprimaryinterestinthrillers,asthename suggests,isveryrapidactioninwhichthemaincharactersareoftenindangerofbeing killedthemselves.Traditionalcrimefiction,beginningwithArthurConanDoyle’sSherlock Holmesstories,includessomeexcitingevents,butismoreconcernedwiththeintellectual gameoftryingtopuzzleoutthecrime.AsuspensethrillerlikeDanBrown’sTheDaVinci CodeorthenovelsofwriterslikeJohnLeCarreandJohnGrishammovesrapidlyfrom placetoplace,oftenoverdifferentcitiesandcountries.Thecrimes,too,aremorelikelyto beonescommittedbysomeinternationalorganizationofcriminalsliketheMafia,people withingovernmentorganizations,directorsofbigbusinessandthelike,whilethemain charactersareoftenpursuedorattackedbythecriminals.Theheroofasuspensethriller Page|5 needsagooddealofluckaswellasphysicalstrengthandcourage,whilethedetectiveina crimenovelneedsmostlyintelligenceandkeenobservation. Nevertheless,mostspecialistsoncrimefictionarenowinclinedtoincludethethrillerinto thegeneralgenre.ThiscanbeseeninareputableoverviewofthegenrelikeThe CambridgeCompaniontoCrimeFiction(2003),editedbyMartinPriestman,whichhasan articleonthethrilleralongwithmoretraditionalformslikeGoldenAgecrimefiction. Furthermore,astimepasses,therearemoreandmoreexamplesofnovelsandfilmsthat canbecalledcrossovers,combiningfeaturesofbothcrimefictionandsuspensethrillers. Still,mostwritersworkinonesubgenreortheother,asreadersoftenprefer,aswith mostpopularormassliterature,tobesurethattheywillgetthekindofnarrativethey want. YOURINPUT:1 THINKABOUTNOVELSYOUHAVEREADORFILMSORTVSERIALSYOUHAVEWATCHED. AREANYOFTHEM“CRIMEFICTION”OR“SUSPENSETHRILLERS”? WHYDOYOUDECIDETOPLACETHEBOOKORFILMINONEGENREORANOTHER? 3. THEPREHISTORYINENGLISHOFMODERNCRIMEFICTION ThefirsttextsinEnglishthatfocusoncrimeandcriminalsappearinthe16thcentury. WriterslikeJohnAwdeleyandThomasHarmancollectedinformationaboutthecriminal underworldinEngland,itsstructure,professionsandlanguage,andpublishedthisina formthatwasbetweenwhatcouldbecalledsociologicalinformationandnarrative. Awdeley’sFraternityofVagabonds(1565),Harman’sACaveatorWarning(1567)and someothersoflessimportancewerelaterusedbyRenaissancewriterslikeThomas Dekker(15701632)andRobertGreene(15561592),workinginthetimeofShakespeare, whoexpandedthenarrativeelements,creatingdialoguesbetweendifferentkindsof professionalcriminalsornarrativesabouthowtheyworked.Fromaliterarypointofview, thefinestoftheseworksweretwoplaysbythemajorRenaissancewriter,BenJonson (15721637),TheAlchemist(1610)andBartholomewFair(1614),inwhichsomeofthe centralcharactersareprofessionalcriminalsandtheplotcirclesaroundtheircriminalacts. However,theseliteraryworksareverydifferentfromcrimefictionasreadersthinkofit today.Therearenodetectives,andthecrimeisnevermurder.Theinterestforthereaders intheseRenaissancetextsishowprostitutes,pickpockets,thievesandconmenof differentkindsmanagetomakemoneyfromfoolishandgullibleEnglishcitizens.The writerscreateapictureofanunderworldwithitsownclasssystem–forsomekindsof crimeareconsideredtohavehigherstatusthanothers–anditsownlanguage,whatmay becalledasociolect,wordsandexpressionsusedbythesepeopletorefertodifferent kindsofcrimes,criminalsandvictims,aswellassomeordinaryitemsfromeverydaylife. Besides,althoughEnglishRenaissancewritersformallycondemnedcriminalsassinful, immoralandwickedpeople,intruththesenarrativesareverysympathetictothieves, prostitutesandconmen.Onesignofthisisthatthevictimsareoftenfooledbecausethey aregreedyaswellasstupid,andsoarerightfullypunishedbybeingtrickedoutoftheir money.Another,evenmoreimportant,isthatthecriminalsalmostneverrepentor Page|6 changeandarenotpunishedfortheircrimes.Norarethereanydetectives,though occasionallymenrepresentingthelaw,likemagistrates,mayappear.Thecriminals,then,
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