Detective Fiction

This course explores what makes detective fiction one of the most popular forms of literary narrative. Detective fiction contains many rich strands of ideas and socio-political issues including race, poverty and wealth, attitudes towards disabilities and gender. Class activities, lectures and assignments aim to reveal the precise definition of a detective story, and especially what makes a good detective story. Starting from the mid-19th century to the present day the course discusses the role of detection in literature, creates a critical space in which readers consider issues of violence of justice and what creates the conditions that instigate crime, thus delving into the minds of the writer and his characters. The course traces the development of the genre, the significance of the sites of criminal investigation, the political and cultural context of the texts in question, and varying characters and motives of the detectives, criminals and, just as importantly, writers and readers. By doing so the course evokes consideration of whether revealing the truth and the longing to punish the culprit are always desirable outcomes.