Crime Fiction Notes Essay

Study: – read over your essay and familiarise yourself with your wording – have discussions – Figure out the arguments in your head – practise exams – don’t just Know the material REALLY UNDERSTAND it The Big Sleep Observation: – conventions that are constant throughout generations of crime fiction genre (passion, detachment, love, hope, justice) are a reflection on the timeless and universal human needs – conventions that are subverted are a reflection of changing values and context Context: – 1950’s post WW2 – Economic depression – Desire for hope, justice, escapism Theorists: Schwartz: â€Å"crime fiction serves to explicate the dangers and pleasures of life.† – There is human emotion with which the audience can empathise – Gives the illusion that they have entered the world of crime Miller: â€Å"A rhetorically sound definition of genre must be centred not on the substance or form of discourse, but on the action it is used to accomplish,† – manipulate audiences empathy to engage them in the text – typical of TRADITIONAL crime fiction GENRE Techniques: (Remember these techniques interchangeably and only use the appropriate ones) Context specific 1. Subvert Context: Desire for hope Convention: film noir subgenre traditionally seek to realistically portray the inescapable broken nature of society – subverted – Happy Ending Observation & Theorist: – Imperative of genre to allow for subversion to become relevant to socio-economic or political context – Chandler, â€Å"the cycles and transformations of genre can be seen as a response to the changing political, social and economic conditions† 2. Context: – socio-economic context of 1940’s World War 2 America – midst of an economic depression – employment was low and consequently crime was on the rise – yearning for justice and heroism to correct the broken nature of society Convention: – Characterisation of Marlowe as determined and relentless – Ironic and self-depreciating dialogue â€Å"I’m just a guy whose paid to do other peoples laundry† embodies disposition of lone ranger – Heroic connotations, â€Å"why did you have to keep going?†, â€Å"too many people told me to stop.† Observation and Theorist: – Crime fiction gives the audience what it NEEDS 3. Context: 1950’s audience can critique broken society and judge morality of characters Convention: – Conforms to traditional structure of c/f: red herrings, witnesses, investigation, unveiling of mystery – Lack of narration; no point of view; audience critique characters – E.G. Marlowe, womanizer, heavy drinker, blatant disrespect for authority and the law, â€Å"I don’t know what I am going to tell them- but it will be pretty close to the truth† retain a degree of morality, reproach toward reprehensible behaviour, â€Å"my, my, my, so many guns for so few brains.† Reflects ambivalent noir concept that everything good is tainted with evil Observation and theorist: – Convoluted plotline makes the audience â€Å"objective viewer† – Critique the broken society and the morality of characters – Livingston, â€Å"different genres are concerned with different world views†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Universal 1. Conform Context: common timeless human desires transcend context and audience and hence are constant throughout generations of crime fiction Convention: – human fascination with romantic love interest – foregrounded interaction between ‘hardboiled detective’ Marlowe and ‘femme fatal’ Vivien Rutledge – Verbal sparring soaked in double-entendres indicative of sexual tension; â€Å"do you always think you can handle people like trained seals?† â€Å"uh-huh and I usually get away with it too† Theorist: – Colette, â€Å"romance pervades oral and written story-telling as far back as can be traced† Anil’s Ghost Observations 1. Post-colonial text; exposure to different culture; challenges Western perspective of crime fiction genre – Barthes, â€Å"it is in relation to other texts within a genre rather then in relation to lived experiences that we make sense of certain events within a text.† – Cohen, â€Å"Genres are open categories. Each member alters the genre by adding, contradicting or changing constituents, especially those members most closely related to it.† 2. Challenges not only our understanding of the genre, but also our perception of the world around us – Berger: â€Å"Never again will a single story be told as though it were only the one†. 3. Crime fiction can be a means of contextual political and philosophical discussion – The subjectivity of truth – Nihilism and post-modernism Techniques 1. Context: – socio-political context 1980’s Sri Lanka – multifaceted civil war – unimaginable for a western audience – but can relate to universal themes Convention: – Mystery as a medium for Anil’s quest for her identity – Ambiguous characterisation forces reader to share in her frustration and confusion – Refuses to be defined or typecast, religious allusion, â€Å"The return of the prodigal†, â€Å"I am not a prodigal† – Symbolised through an aggressive campaign to chose her own name Observation and theorist: – international audience relate to a common quest – multifaceted nature of identity – Ambiguity and struggle within an individual, reflective of wider post modern society 2. Observation, context and theorist: – Fister; â€Å"crime fiction deliberately exploits anxiety within the reader through reflecting and magnifying societies fear du jour.† – Terror of those living within civil war Convention: – explored through specific victims, personalise pain; agonising imagery Gunesena’s crucifixion, â€Å"prized the nails from the tarmac, freeing his hands† – fear impregnates every facet of society; personification of Sri Lankan national fear through simile used to warn against the dangers of truth, â€Å"truth is like a flame against a lake of petrol† 3. Observation: – aware of the horrendous acts of violence but absent from the actual event – never presume to understand the degree of suffering – novel seeks to extrapolate sympathy NOT empathy Convention: – Subversion: post-modern style, not one single perspective, intrusive narration to explore a variety of characters perspectives. (Berger: â€Å"Never again will a single story be told as though it were only the one†.) – Foregrounds the differences; â€Å"the darkest Greek tragedies were innocent compared to what was happening here† compares European mythology with Eastern reality, highlights vast discrepancies between crime fiction Theorist: – Texts challenge audience’s worldly perceptions; Cole: â€Å"This can function as a form of social protest and reform†¦ giving crime writers the status symbol of social activists.† More on VALUES