Module Identifier | EN34720 | ||
Module Title | DETECTIVE AND CRIME FICTION | ||
Academic Year | 2002/2003 | ||
Co-ordinator | Mr Michael J Smith | ||
Semester | Semester 2 | ||
Course delivery | Seminars / Tutorials | 20 Hours Seminar. 10 x 2 hrs seminar workshops | |
Assessment | Semester Assessment | Continuous Assessment: 2 essays (2,500 words each) | 100% |
Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. |
Week:
1. The Age of the Great Detective: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
2. The Golden Age: Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
3. Hardboiled: Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep (1939)
4. Greene and Noir: Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear (1943)
5. Romance: Margery Allingham, The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)
6. Anti-Romance: Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr Ripley (1955)
7. The Whydunnit: Ruth Rendell, A Judgement in Stone (1977)
8. Postmodern Crime: Michael Dibdin, Cabal (1992)
9. The Lesbian Sleuth: Stella Duffy, Beneath the Blonde (1997)
10. Tartan Noir: Ian Rankin, Black and Blue (1997)
Besides the stories and novels listed above, students will find the following useful as introductory reading:
John G. Cawelti, Adventure, Mystery and Romance: Formula Stories as Art and Popular Culture (1976)
Julian Symons, Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel: A History (1971)
There is a great deal of useful material on the web. Two of the most interesting sites are Tangled Web UK, address:
http://www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/authorpagelist.html
and the Guardian's Books Unlimited site - address for the Crime section of this: http://www.booksunlimited.co.uk/departments/crime/front/0,6000,95683,00.html