Investigating Identities: Questions of Identity in Contemporary International Crime Fiction is one of the relatively few books to date which adopts a comparative approach to the study of the genre. This collection of twenty essays by international scholars, examining crime fiction production from over a dozen countries, confirms that a comparative approach can both shed light on processes of adaptation and appropriation of the genre within specific national, regional or local contexts, and also uncover similarities between the works of authors from very different areas. Contributors explore discourse concerning national and historical memory, language, race, ethnicity, culture and gender, and examine how identity is affirmed and challenged in the crime genre today. They reveal a growing tendency towards hybridization and postmodern experimentation, and increasing engagement with philosophical enquiry into the epistemological dimensions of investigation. Throughout, the notion of stable identities is subject to scrutiny. While each essay in itself is a valuable addition to existing criticism on the genre, all the chapters mutually inform and complement each other in fascinating and often unexpected ways. This volume makes an important contribution to the growing field of crime fiction studies and to ongoing debates on questions of identity. It will therefore be of special interest to students and scholars of the crime genre, identity studies and comparative literature. It will also appeal to all who enjoy reading contemporary crime fiction.
Author(s): Kate M. Quinn
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 364
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 12
Introduction: Investigating Identities......Page 14
NATIONALITY INTERNATIONAL: DETECTIVE FICTION IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY......Page 24
ARTICULATING AND DISARTICULATING CULTURE AND IDENTITY IN VÁZQUEZ MONTALBÁN’S SERIE CARVALHO......Page 40
POPULAR GENRE AND THE POLITICS OF THE PERIPHERY: CATALAN CRIME FICTION BY WOMEN......Page 56
QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY: AN EXPLORATION OF SPANISH DETECTIVE FICTION......Page 70
ABYSS OF THE SENSES: LES RIVIÈRES POURPRES BY JEAN-CHRISTOPHE GRANGÉ......Page 90
FRACTURED IDENTITIES: JEAN-CLAUDE IZZO’S TOTAL KHÉOPS......Page 108
DETECTING ETHNICITY: JAKOB ARJOUNI AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING GERMAN DETECTIVE NOVEL......Page 126
DOUBLE IDENTITY: HARD-BOILED DETECTIVE FICTION AND THE DIVIDED “I”......Page 144
PLUM’S THE GIRL! JANET EVANOVICH AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF MS COMMON AMERICA......Page 158
MURDER AND LOVE: RUSSIAN WOMEN DETECTIVE WRITERS......Page 172
PERSPECTIVES ON THE DETECTIVE NOVEL IN AFRIKAANS......Page 184
WANTED: NATIONAL ALGERIAN IDENTITY......Page 196
“TROUBLING” THRILLERS: POLITICS AND POPULAR FICTION IN NORTHERN IRELAND LITERATURE......Page 212
DOUBLE DUTCH: IMAGE AND IDENTITY IN DUTCH AND FLEMISH CRIME FICTION......Page 228
CULTURAL IDENTITY IN SWISS GERMAN DETECTIVE FICTION......Page 242
UNRESOLVED IDENTITIES IN ROTH AND RABINOVICI: REWORKING THE CRIME GENRE IN AUSTRIAN LITERATURE......Page 256
CRIME NOVELS IN ITALY......Page 274
THE DETECTIVE AND THE DISAPPEARED: MEMORY, FORGETTING AND OTHER CONFUSIONS IN JUAN JOSÉ SAER’S......Page 290
CASES OF IDENTITY CONCEALED AND REVEALED IN CHILEAN DETECTIVE FICTION......Page 308
FROM A GOOD FIRM KNOT TO A MESS OF LOOSE ENDS: IDENTITY AND SOLUTION IN MARTIN AMIS’ NIGHT TRAIN......Page 324
Notes on Contributors......Page 338
Index......Page 342
