The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis

by Charles Brownson

Overview

This book begins with a history of the detective genre, coextensive with the novel itself, identifying the attitudes and institutions needed for the genre to emerge in its mature form around 1880. The theory of the genre is laid out along with its central theme of the getting and deployment of knowledge. Sherlock Holmes, the English Classic stories and their inheritors are examined in light of this theme and the balance of two forms of knowledge used in fictional detection--cool or rational, and warm or emotional. The evolution of the genre formula is driven by changes in the social climate in which it is embedded. These changes explain the decay of the English Classic and its replacement by noir, hardboiled and spy stories, to end in the cul-de-sac of the thriller and the nostalgic Neo-Classic. Possible new forms of the detective story are suggested.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476612720
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	01/23/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Charles Brownson is a professor emeritus of Arizona State University. A book artist who produces unique handmade books and has written several detective stories, he lives in Tempe, Arizona.
Charles Brownson is a professor emeritus of Arizona State University. A book artist who produces unique handmade books and has written several detective stories, he lives in Tempe, Arizona.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
1. The ­Pre-­Classical Detective
2. Sherlock Holmes—Rationality and the Detective Artist
3. The English Classic
4. Psycho-­Intuitive and Noir
5. Hard-­Boiled, Spies and Thrillers
6. The Neoclassic Revival
7. Metaphysical Modern
Appendix: Chronological List of Films Mentioned in the Text
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index