HMS-311B Detective Fiction

3 Credits

• HMS-311B-01

This course will investigate forms of detective fiction- and discourses of mystery and crime more broadly-in literature, cinema and other media. We will rethink their development form the post-Enlightenment urbanization of the gothic in the nineteenth century to the rose of whodunit mysteries and hard-boiled crime fiction in the twentieth century (including connections to other genres like the psychological thriller, western and science fiction), as well as film noir, neo-noir, and more experimental, postmodern and contemporary examples form across nations and cultures. Our critical and theoretical inquiries will consider how stories of criminal transgression and forensic fact-finding relate to historical transformations of subjectivity and society, and how they pose challenging questions about truth, justice and power that persist to this day.