http://www.interferenceslitteraires.be ISSN : 2031 - 2790 Barbara KORTE The Fading of the Hero in the Spy Genre A Case Study of Spooks (BBC 2002-2011) Zusammenfassung Spionagefiktion suggeriert typischerweise, dass das Heldentum von Geheimagenten prekär ist. Spione lügen, betrügen und töten, und ihre moralische Fragwürdigkeit wird treffend mit dem britischen umgangssprachlichen Ausdruck ‘spook’ erfasst, vom Ursprung her ein Synonym für ‘Geist,.Gespenst’. Aufgrund ihrer moralischen Fragwürdigkeit haben Spione und die Fiktionen, die sie darstellen, eine besondere Affinität zur Idee des ‘verschwindenden’ Heldens und Heldentums. Spionagefiktion projiziert einen Heroismus, dessen Bedeutungen und Manifestationen prekär sind, der erscheint und verschwindet, der in bestimmten Augenblicken aufleuchtet, dann aber wieder verblasst. Der Artikel zeigt dies zunächst für das Spionagegenre per se, dann in einem Close Reading von Spooks (2002-2011), einer von der BBC produzierten Fernsehserie über den Sicherheitsdienst des Vereinigten Königreichs. Die Länge und (Dis-) Kontinuitäten serieller Narration ermöglichen ein komplexes Erzählen und widersprüchliche Charakterzeichnung, einschließlich der Möglichkeit, dass heroisierte Figuren einen bedeutungsvollen und verstörenden Wandel erfahren. Dies erreicht einen Höhepunkt in der neunten Staffel von Spooks, auf die dieser Aufsatz seinen Fokus legt; hier durchlebt der Held einen Wandel seiner Moral und Persönlichkeit , der angesichts seiner früheren Geschichte und der Kenntnisse, die die Zuschauer über ihn aufgebaut haben, nicht vorhersagbar ist. Abstract Spy fiction typically suggests that the heroicity of the secret agent is, at best, an insecure one. Spies lie, deceive and kill, and their moral shadiness is aptly captured in the British colloquial expression ‘spook’, originally a synonym for ‘ghost’. It is this shadiness through which spies and the fictions that depict them have a special affinity to the idea of ‘fading’ heroes and heroism. Spy fiction projects a heroism whose meanings and manifestations are unstable, that appears and disappears, that may shine in some moments and fade in others. This is shown first for the spy genre per se and then in a close reading of the long-running television programme Spooks (2002-2011), produced by the BBC about the United Kingdom’s Security Service. The length and dis-/continuities of serial narration enable complex storytelling and contradictory characterisation, including the possibility that heroised characters undergo significant and disturbing change. This reached a peak in the ninth season of Spooks, on which this article focuses, where the series’ male hero at the time undergoes a shift in morality and personality that is unpredictable from his earlier narrative and the knowledge the viewers have accumulated about him. To quote this article: Barbara KORTE «The Fading of the Hero in the Spy Fiction. A Case Study ofSpooks (BBC 2002-2011)», in: Interférences littéraires/Literaire interferenties, 22, « Un-Fading the Hero. Reconfiguring Ancient and Premodern Heroic Templates in Modern and Contemporary Culture», ed. by Michiel RYS & Bart PHILIPSEN, September 2018, 167-178. COMITÉ DE DIRECTION – REDACTIECOMITÉ Anke Gilleir (KU Leuven) – Rédacteur en chef - Hoofdredacteur Beatrijs Vanacker (KU Leuven) – Secrétaire de rédaction - Redactiesecretaris Elke D’HOKER (KU Leuven) Lieven D’HULST (KU Leuven – Kortrijk) David MARTENS (KU Leuven) Hubert ROLAND (FNRS – UCL) Matthieu SERGIER ((UCL & Factultés Universitaires Saint-Louis) Myriam WATTHEE-DELMOTTE (FNRS – UCL) CONSEIL DE RÉDACTION – REDACTIERAAD Sascha BRU (KU Leuven) Michel LISSE (FNRS – UCL) Geneviève FABRY (UCL) Anneleen MASSCHELEIN (KU Leuven) Agnès GUIDERDONI (FNRS – UCL) Christophe MEURÉE (FNRS – UCL) Ortwin DE GRAEF (KU Leuven) Reine MEYLAERTS (KU Leuven) Jan HERMAN (KU Leuven) Stéphanie VANASTEN (FNRS – UCL) Guido LATRÉ (UCL) Bart VAN DEN BOSCHE (KU Leuven) Nadia LIE (KU Leuven) Marc VAN VAECK (KU Leuven) COMITÉ SCIENTIFIQUE – WETENSCHAPPELIJK COMITÉ Olivier AMMOUR-MAYEUR (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle -– Gillis DORLEIJN (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) Paris III & Université Toulouse II – Le Mirail) Ute HEIDMANN (Université de Lausanne) ERENSMEYER Ingo B (Universität Giessen) Klaus H. KIEFER (Ludwig Maxilimians Universität München) ERNAERTS Lars B (Universiteit Gent & Vrije Universiteit Brussel) Michael KOLHAUER (Université de Savoie) INCKES Faith B (Worcester College – Oxford) Isabelle KRZYWKOWSKI (Université Stendhal-Grenoble III) OSSIER Philiep B (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) Mathilde LABBÉ (Université Paris Sorbonne) RUERA Franca B (Università di Torino) SofianeL AGHOUATI (Musée Royal de Mariemont) EBALLOS IRO Àlvaro C V (Université de Liège) François LECERCLE (Université Paris Sorbonne) HELEBOURG Christian C (Université de Lorraine) Ilse LOGIE (Universiteit Gent) OSTADURA Edoardo C (Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena) Marc MAUFORT (Université Libre de Bruxelles) REIGHTON Nicola C (Queen’s University Belfast) Isabelle MEURET (Université Libre de Bruxelles) ECKER William M. D (Oklahoma State University) Christina MORIN (University of Limerick) DE RUYN Ben B (Maastricht University) Miguel NORBARTUBARRI (Universiteit Antwerpen) ELABASTITA Dirk D (Université de Namur) Andréa OBERHUBER (Université de Montréal) ELVILLE Michel D (Université de Liège) Jan OOSTERHOLT (Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg) OMINGUEZ César D (Universidad de Santiago de Compostella Maïté SNAUWAERT (University of Alberta – Edmonton) & King’s College) Pieter VERSTRAETEN ((Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) Interférences littéraires / Literaire interferenties KU Leuven – Faculteit Letteren Blijde-Inkomststraat 21 – Bus 3331 B 3000 Leuven (Belgium) Contact : [email protected] & [email protected] Interférences littéraires/Literaire interferenties, 22, September 2018 The Fading of the Hero in the Spy Genre. A Case Study of «Spooks» (BBC 2002-2011) Introduction Spy fiction has been noted for its hero-sceptical bias and its potential for critical inquiry into heroic discourse and the cultural meanings of heroism. Since the genre emerged around 1900, its peaks of popularity have coincided with times when the social significance of heroes and heroism was (and is) most strongly contested.1 There are instances of the heroic spy – James Bond being an obvious example – but spy fiction seems more typically inclined to portray its protagonists and their deeds from a sceptical point of view and in a manner that de-heroises rather than heroises them. It reveals the flaws and fallibility of its spy characters and the moral ambiguity of what they do even when they act for the greater good of their country. Spy fiction suggests that the heroicity of the secret agent is, at best, an insecure one. It is tainted by the necessity to lie, deceive and even kill, and this is grounded in reality: As Ernest Volkman points out, espionage “is regarded as a serious crime in every nation, almost universally punishable by death”.2 The moral ambiguity of spies and spying is captured in a British colloquial expression for the secret agent: The word ‘spook’, originally a synonym for ‘ghost’, points to the shady quality of spies and their deeds, and it is this shadiness through which spies and the fictions that depict them have a special affinity to the idea of ‘fading’ heroes and heroism. It is the aim of the following pages to explore this affinity and to show how spy fiction typically projects a heroism that is precarious, whose meanings and manifestations are unstable, that appears and disappears, that may shine in some moments and fade in others. This will be shown first for the spy genreper se and then in a close reading of one example: the long-running television programme Spooks (2002-2011), produced by the BBC about agents of MI5, the United Kingdom’s Security Service. The origins of spy fiction are in (British) literature, but today the 1. While much has been written on the history of espionage fiction, the following surveys are of particular relevance in this respect: John ATKINS, The British Spy Novel. Styles in Treachery, London, Calder, 1984; Lars Ole SAUERBERG, Secret Agents in Fiction. Ian Fleming, John le Carré and Len Deighton, London, Macmillan, 1984; John G. CAWELTI & Bruce A. ROSENBERG, The Spy Story, Chicago, Uni- versity of Chicago Press, 1987; Michael DENNING, Cover Stories. Narrative and Ideology in the British Spy Thriller, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987; Clive BLOOM (ed.), Spy Thrillers. From Buchan to le Carré, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1990; and Jost HINDERSMANN, Der britische Spionageroman. Vom Im- perialismus bis zum Ende des Kalten Krieges, Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1995. For a survey of the genre’s engagement with heroes and heroisms see Barbara KORTE, Geheime Helden. Spione in der Populärkultur des 21. Jahrhunderts, Göttingen, Wallstein, 2017. For a general discussion on anti-heroes and post-heroic scepticism in modern culture see Victor BROMBERT, In Praise of An- tiheroes. Figures and Themes in Modern European Literature 1830–1980, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1999. 2. Ernest VOLKMAN, The History of Espionage. The Clandestine World of Surveillance, Spying and Intelligence, from Ancient Times to the post-9/11 World, London, Carleton, 2007, 7. 167 «SPOOKS» genre manifests itself in a range of media and with their different aesthetics. This includes television,3 and while the focus of this article does not permit me to do justice to Spooks as a significant piece of British