Detective (English detective, from Latin detego - I reveal, expose) - literary genre, whose works describe the process of investigating a mysterious incident in order to clarify its circumstances and solve the riddle. Usually such an incident is a crime, and the detective describes its investigation and determination of the perpetrators, in this case the conflict is built on the clash of justice with lawlessness, ending in the victory of justice.

The main feature of a detective story as a genre is the presence in the work of a certain mysterious incident, the circumstances of which are unknown and must be clarified. The most commonly described incident is a crime, although there are detective stories that investigate events that are not criminal.

An essential feature of the detective story is that the actual circumstances of the incident are not communicated to the reader, at least in its entirety, until the investigation is completed. Instead, the reader is led by the author through the investigative process, given the opportunity at each stage to construct their own versions and evaluate known facts. If the work initially describes all the details of the incident, or the incident does not contain anything unusual or mysterious, then it should no longer be classified as a pure detective story, but rather among related genres (action film, police novel, etc.).

An important property of a classic detective story is the completeness of facts. The solution to the mystery cannot be based on information that was not provided to the reader during the description of the investigation. By the time the investigation is completed, the reader should have enough information to use it to find a solution on their own. Only certain minor details may be hidden that do not affect the possibility of revealing the secret. At the end of the investigation, all mysteries must be solved, all questions must be answered.

“The world of a detective story is much more orderly than the life around us,” was N. N. Vasiliev’s opinion about the “detective” genre.

What is often found in the detective genre:

Ordinary surroundings. The conditions in which the events of the detective story take place are generally common and well known to the reader (in any case, the reader himself believes that he is confident in them). Thanks to this, it is initially obvious to the reader which of what is described is ordinary and which is strange, beyond the scope.

Stereotypical behavior of characters. The characters are largely devoid of originality, their psychology and behavioral patterns are quite transparent, predictable, and if they have any distinctive features, they become known to the reader. The motives for the actions (including the motives for the crime) of the characters are also stereotypical.

The existence of plot construction rules that do not always correspond real life. So, for example, in a classic detective story, the narrator and detective, in principle, cannot turn out to be criminals.

Another limitation is noted, which is almost always followed by a classic detective story - the inadmissibility of random errors and undetectable coincidences. For example, in real life, a witness can tell the truth, he can lie, he can be mistaken or misled, but he can simply make an unmotivated mistake (accidentally, mix up dates, amounts, names). In a detective story, the last possibility is excluded - the witness is either accurate, or lying, or his mistake has a logical justification.

Evolution of the genre

The first developers of the genre were such famous writers as E. A. Poe, G. K. Chesterton, A. Conan Doyle, G. Leroux, E. Wallace, S. S. Van Dyne, D. Hammett, E. Quinn and etc.

Perhaps the first theorist of the detective story as a special genre was G. K. Chesterton, who published the article “In Defense of Detective Literature” in 1902. In his essay, Chesterton emphasizes that "the detective novel or short story is a perfectly legitimate literary genre." “The most important virtue of the detective story is that it is the earliest and so far the only form of popular literature in which a certain sense of poetry was expressed modern life» .

At the beginning of the 20th century, attempts were made to develop standards in accordance with which works of the detective genre would be created. So, in 1928, the English writer Willard Hattington published his set of literary rules, calling it “20 rules for writing detective stories.”

Among modern detective researchers one should name A. Adamov, G. Andzhaparidze, N. Berkovsky, V. Rudnev, A. Vulis. Their works trace the history of the genre, analyze its poetics, and explore artistic parallels in the works of different authors.

According to V. Rudnev, a detective story is “a genre specific to mass literature and cinema of the twentieth century.” Rudnev explains the peculiarity of the detective genre by the fact that “the main element as a genre is the presence of a main character in it - a detective detective (usually a private one) who detects a crime. The main content of the detective story is, therefore, the search for truth.

Let's look again at the definition of genre:

DETECTIVE (lat. detectio - disclosure of English detective - detective) is a work of fiction, the plot of which is based on the conflict between good and evil, realized in solving a crime.

It turns out that the educational and psychological aspects come to the fore in a detective story: a detective story must show the triumph of good, the inevitability of punishment for evil, and it also makes it possible to reveal the nature of the crime. How does a person become inclined to commit a crime? How does this happen: is the environment to blame for everything or does he tend to do it himself?

The detective story shows a person in a rare situation - during a personal or social drama. Detective is an intense struggle, be it an intellectual battle, interrogation, chase, shooting or hand-to-hand combat.

The Weiner brothers noted that a prerequisite for a detective is sociality. And since the subject of the detective story is crime, he “takes a slice of life in which explosive forces have accumulated, in which the “negative aspects” have broken through the social foundations of morality and legality. It is detective writers who resolutely and mercilessly expose the ulcers and festerings of society.”

Charles P. Snow wrote that detective literature is a sign of civilization and the investigation of crime is a symbol of everything positive that is in modern world, romance in the full sense of the word. This property of a detective is especially valuable now, at a time of acute shortage of true romance, a dangerous fight against evil, its exposure and punishment.

Speaking about the detective story, one cannot ignore the writer who revolutionized the genre, immortalizing the classic detective story. This is, of course, Agatha Christie! She introduced the world to a new concept of prose, which proclaimed the rule of law and the triumph of reason, protecting society as a whole and individuals in particular against the threat of someone encroaching on the rights and freedoms of others. The genius Edgar Allan Poe, who founded the detective story as such, gravitated towards mysticism, and therefore did not form the “idea of ​​Nemesis”, justice over criminals, which was later discovered in Christie; Arthur Conan Doyle made a significant contribution to the development of this genre, proposing a universal image of the hero - the legendary Sherlock Holmes, famous for his logic and determination; Issues of morality were repeatedly considered by the respected Keith Gilbert Chesterton, through his main character - Father Brown - addressing the attentive reader. But it was a woman who was destined to lead the victorious march of the detective, who in the 1920s and 1930s became a confident representative of the middle class of Westerners. Making close to ideal justice and the inevitability of punishment for the criminal the leitmotif in her works, Christie did not forget about literature directly, with her piercing simplicity winning the trust of readers, heating up the intrigue to the limit and describing the everyday conflicts of good old Britain.

Analysis of Agatha Christie's work

"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"

For analysis, the novel “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” was taken, recognized at one time as one of Agatha Christie’s best creations and a masterpiece of the genre.

The novel takes place in the fictional English village of Kings Abbot. The story begins with the death of Mrs. Ferrar, a wealthy widow rumored to have murdered her husband. The villagers believe that the widow committed suicide until Roger Ackroyd, a widower who was planning to marry Mrs. Ferrar, dies.

Hercule Poirot, who arrived at the scene, begins an investigation, having many suspects around - Ackroyd's relatives and acquaintances, each of whom was interested in his death. One of them, the last person to see Ackroyd alive, Dr. James Shepard, is the narrator of the story and traces Poirot's actions step by step, acting as a kind of "Dr. Watson" - the professional detective's assistant and biographer. Here and there in the text of the novel, “keys” to the mystery are scattered - hints, reservations, details - which, with careful reading, can open your eyes to what is happening long before the denouement of the story.

The key word, which, in our opinion, forms the basis of the novel is the word “weak-willed”. It is first spoken in Chapter 17 by Dr. Shepard, and then by his sister Caroline in relation to himself.

“We started talking about Ralph Paton.

“He’s a weak-willed man,” I insisted, “but not vicious.”

A! But weakness, where does it end?

That’s right,” said Caroline, “take James, for example, as soft as water.” If I weren't there to look after him

My dear Caroline,” I said irritably, “could you please not get personal?”

“You’re weak, James,” she continued, completely unmoved by my remark, “I’m eight years older than you Oh! I don’t mind if Monsieur Poirot knows about it.”

It is weakness of will that leads to dramatic consequences: blackmail, incitement to suicide, murder of a person and betrayal of a friend for the sake of personal interests. Here's how Hercule Poirot puts it:

“Let’s take a person - a very ordinary person who doesn’t even have thoughts of murder. But somewhere in the depths of the soul lurks a certain tendency towards weakness. Nothing affects her, and she does not express herself. Perhaps it will never manifest itself, and the person will go to his grave honest and respected by everyone. But let's say something happened. He finds himself in a difficult situation. Or not even that. He accidentally learns some secret, a secret on which someone’s life or death depends. His first instinct is to talk about it, to honestly fulfill his duty as a citizen. And then his tendency to weak will manifests itself. He sees that he can get money - big money. But he needs money, he craves it. And it's so easy. He doesn't have to do anything to get them. He just needs to be silent. This is the beginning. But the passion for money is growing. He needs more and more! He is intoxicated by the discovery of a gold mine at his feet. He becomes greedy, and in his greed he outsmarts himself.”

Who knows how many more murders could have followed if the criminal had not been stopped? The people closest to you could also come under attack.

“But what scared me most was Caroline. I thought she might guess. She spoke strangely that day about my tendency to be weak-willed.”

The most notable technique, the use of which has led to much discussion, is the use of an unreliable narrator who ends up being the murderer. In his final confession, Dr. Sheppard tries to justify himself from possible accusations of lying:

“I'm quite pleased with myself as a writer. What could be more accurate, for example, the following words: “The letter was brought at twenty minutes to nine. It remained unread when I left at ten minutes to nine. Having already grabbed the doorknob, I hesitantly stopped and looked around, wondering if I had done everything. Without thinking of anything, I went out and closed the door behind me.”

Agatha Christie's idea was that Dr. Sheppard does not hide the truth and does not lie - he simply does not say anything. In particular, he "forgets" to mention what happened between 20.40 and 20.50, when Roger Ackroyd was actually killed.

Events take on new meaning in the reader's eyes when the killer becomes known. Dr. Sheppard himself is amazed at his duplicity, the complexity of the investigation and the fact that so many people were under suspicion. On the one hand, he is overcome by the fear of exposure, on the other hand, he admires and is proud of his cunning, the fact that he can fool such a famous detective as Poirot!

Even after exposure, the killer does not regret what he did, the lives lost, believing that they received a well-deserved punishment and retribution. He doesn't even feel sorry for himself. He is dejected by one thing: that Hercule Poirot appeared there.

“And then what happens next? Veronal? It would be like retribution from above, something like poetic justice. I do not consider myself responsible for the death of Mrs. Ferrars. It was a direct result of her own actions. I don't feel sorry for her. I don't even have pity for myself. So let it be veronal. But it would be better if Hercule Poirot never retired and came here to grow pumpkins."

So, based on the above, we can draw the following conclusions

1. Having worked out the definition of the “detective” genre and examined the evolution of this genre, we found out that the distinctive property of the classic detective story is the moral idea or morality inherent in it. Thus, in the novels of A. Christie, the matter always turns out to be the punishment of the criminal and the triumph of justice.

2. In detective stories you can catch a lot of educational and even warning; situations related to universal human vices are given. Usually, the heroes are placed in very extreme situations, which helps the author to identify hidden personality traits in apparently prosperous people.

What do we see in Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd?

Betrayal of a loved one for the sake of self-interest

Betrayal of a friend for personal interests

What is the result?

Easy money that doesn't bring happiness

Drive to suicide

Killing a man

Constant fear of exposure

But why, one might ask, does a person need any additional problems, because life is already full of various troubles. Being driven into a dead end, financial disadvantage and other problems gradually break a person, and soon he succumbs to vices, stooping, for example, to theft or blackmail. Then a moment of insurmountable fear comes, and as a result, you have to commit another, more serious crime in order to avoid punishment for the first.

Does the person at this moment think that he is making his situation twice as difficult? Evil eats away at a person, one vice leads to another, and easy money only goes to waste, as easily as it is obtained, so easily does it go away.

In this work main character begins to write a novel about everything that happens. Why did you need to write about your own crime? It's all about the incredible confidence of a man who competently built an alibi for himself and hoped to send this book to Hercule Poirot as the first unsolved crime in his practice. And what didn't work out in the end?

People should not forget that any crime does not go unpunished, and if the verdict is not passed by the court, then it will be handed down by life, which is more severe and merciless.

Exploring the world, people become wiser and purer. A detective novel is also a kind of knowledge - through observation to “insight”, to the discovery of the truth. Human dramas in Agatha Christie's novels are not put in the foreground, they always remain in the depths, which is why they make such a strong impression. It’s as if in pursuit of an entertaining plot you pass by human destinies.

Materials this study can be used when conducting extracurricular activities in literature, in lessons when studying foreign literature 20th century as additional material.

Introduction. 3

1.1 Detective as a literary genre. 5

1.2 Stylistic devices in the English detective novel. 10

Chapter II 20

1.1 Stylistic analysis detective novel by Robin Stevens “Murder Most Unladylike”. 20

Conclusion. 37

Bibliography. 39

Introduction

Today, detective literature is one of the most popular genres of mass literature in the system. This is due to the advertising of detective works in media mass media and the creation of various films, television series and graphic novels based on them. In addition, the popularity of detective literature lies in the fact that throughout its existence it has absorbed the most painful, acute and hidden problems from the eyes of society. Mysteries, secrets, unusual and mysterious situations attract the reader, promote increased attention, and cause tension. Also, the popularity of detective works is associated with the cathartic function of the detective: with the emotional experience, fear and purification that a detective’s investigation of a mystery brings.

The relevance of this course work is associated with the growing popularity of detective literature in English-speaking countries over the past 10 years. During this period, more than 5,000 detective works were included in the “Best Detective” category.

The subject of the study is the detective novel “Murder Most Unladylike” by Robin Stevens.

Object - stylistic devices used in the detective novel Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens.

The purpose of this course work is to identify and analyze stylistic devices using the example of the detective novel “Murder Most Unladylike” by Robin Stevens.

Coursework objectives:

1. Analyze the source text;

2. Identify stylistic devices;

3. Provide an analysis of the identified stylistic devices.

To solve the assigned problems in course work The following research methods were used:

1. Stylistic analysis of translation;

2. Theoretical analysis of scientific sources on the research problem.

The methodological basis for the research in the course work was the works of V.A. Kukharenko “Workshop on stylistics in English", Galperina I.R. “Stylistics of the English language”, Arnold I.V. "The Stylistics of Modern English".

The theoretical significance lies in the definition and analysis of the stylistic techniques of detective works using the example of the detective novel “Murder Most Unladylike” by Robin Stevens.

Chapter I

Detective as a literary genre

Detective (English detective, from Latin detego – I reveal) – literary work or a film based on the investigation of a complicated crime, usually a murder.

Detective literature is a type of literature that includes works of fiction whose plot is dedicated to solving a mysterious crime, usually using a logical analysis of facts.

Detective (Latin detectio - disclosure) is a work of fiction, the plot of which is based on the conflict between good and evil, realized in solving a crime.

Exists a large number of interpretations of the detective story as a genre, but from the dictionary entries the following stable genre indicators of the detective story can be identified: solving a mysterious crime, using logical analysis of facts, the clash between justice and lawlessness, the victory of justice.

The main thing in a detective story is the logical structure leading to the only and correct conclusion. Thanks to this, the reader can feel like a participant in the investigation process.

Edgar Allan Poe, an American writer, poet, is considered the founder of detective literature. literary critic and editor. In his short stories, he created the type of Great Detective, the technique of deductive crime solving, many plot devices, such as false keys, the mystery of a locked room. But the detective story as a popular literary form did not immediately begin to establish itself. Literary scholars believe that the spread of the detective story is associated with acute social problems in society and the weakening of religious principles. The reader began to show particular interest in detective literature in the 1840s, when a large number of regular police forces and various detective offices began to appear, which did not always solve the tasks assigned to them successfully, while in a detective story good always triumphs over evil, justice - iniquity.

Big role in further development The detective as a literary genre was played by the English writer Arthur Conan Doyle, who created the popular image of the private detective Sherlock Holmes. Today this image is one of the most popular and recognizable throughout the world. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote that a detective story must have two storylines: about the victim and the criminal, and about the criminal and the detective. These storylines may intersect and be intentionally confused by the author, but will certainly lead to a denouement, where the author must provide answers to all questions. Also, A. Conan Doyle believed that a criminal should under no circumstances look like a hero.

The English thinker, writer and journalist Gilbert Keith Chesterton became the first theorist of the detective story as a special genre. In his article “In Defense of Detective Literature,” he emphasized that the detective story is a completely complete literary genre.

After the First World War, detective literature changed markedly. The plot became more complex, unexpected twists of intrigue and a denouement appeared.

There are two plot-based types of detective literature: intellectual, where the main interest is focused on the investigation process itself, and adventure, where the plot is built on the escalation of new dramatic episodes, often new crimes.

The detective is characterized by the following features:

1) High degree of standardization;

2) Entertainment function;

3) Availability of content;

4) Exciting and entertaining.

The universal formula of a detective story as a work of art is based on these characteristics. The formula includes stereotypical images of characters, a general plot scheme, and traditional ways of describing people and objects. All works of mass literature are based on such formulas, since they allow the genre to be realized most fully. In each specific detective work by a specific author, the detective formula acquires its own unique content.

At the heart of any detective work there are three main stages: the mystery, the course of the investigation and the revelation, which corresponds to the plot, climax and denouement. In shifter detectives, this sequence may be disrupted.

A reversal detective is a detective work in which the beginning, climax and denouement occur in reverse order.

The goal of any detective work is to solve the riddle, to solve the crime. Solving a crime is a mandatory and unified outcome of any detective story.

According to the Hungarian literary critic Tibor Köszthelyi, there is the following classification of detective stories:

1) Detective mystery and task (works by Arthur Conan Doyle),

2) Historical detective (works of John Dixon Carr),

3) Social Detective (works by Dorothy Lee Sayers),

4) Realistic detective (works by Erle Stanley Gardner),

5) Naturalistic detective story (works by Dashiell Hammett).

Also distinguished are such detective stories as a political detective story, a fantasy detective story, a gothic detective story, a picaresque detective story, and a spy detective story.

In the period from 1918 to 1939, detective literature was enriched with new and colorful images of detectives. Authors of works with such characters include Agatha Christie, Freeman Croftsis, Anthony Quinn, Margery Allingham and others. But whatever the detective story and its author, the main character should always be a person with such general features as: erudition, unsurpassed intelligence, developed intuition, determination, eccentricity, peculiar sense of humor.

The American school of “hard-boiled fiction” dealt a big blow to the image of the amateur detective familiar to readers. The new detectives remained honest, but became cruel and unscrupulous in their means. Most often, the role of a detective was played by an aggressive person who knew how to navigate well in any specific environment and adapt to certain events. The criminal could be anyone, even the protagonist's best friend, as, for example, in Dashiell Hamett's detective novel The Glass Key. The detective becomes pragmatic. To find the truth, it is not analytical abilities that are used, but cunning and resourcefulness. The authors of the “cool school” tried to get away from the old scheme: if the culprit is caught, he is punished. They believed that the main character does not have to be positive, the narrative style should preferably be gloomy, and the outcome should be pessimistic.

But the eccentric detectives did not disappear. In the works of George Chesbrough, the main character is the dwarf Monroe, a colorful character, a professor of criminology, a karateka and a circus performer.

In the second half of the 1900s, a significant innovation in the genre was the emergence of female detectives. They, like men, have a license to investigate and cope no worse with dangerous and complicated cases. Examples of such heroines include Sharon McCone from the detective novels of Marcia Mueller and Kinsey Millhone from the works of Sue Grafton.

The main characters of modern detective stories are different from those of two centuries ago. Today's hero can be a psychic detective, a blind detective, a detective-prince, he can also be a victim at the same time. The search for truth can only be carried out with the help of some kind of personal and moral revolution. Such a hero may not shine with intelligence or strength. This is due to the fact that in detective literature there are no established canons and no literary type of detective as such. For example, Lawrence Sanders and Harry Kemelman went beyond the formal boundaries of the detective story in their work.

Thus, a detective story is a work of fiction based on the unraveling of mysteries and crimes through the logical analysis of facts and the struggle between good and evil, justice and lawlessness.

Georginova N. Yu. Detective genre: reasons for popularity / N. Yu. Georginova // Scientific dialogue. - 2013. - No. 5 (17): Philology. - pp. 173-186.

UDC 82-312.4+82-1/-9+821.161.1’06

Detective genre: reasons for popularity

N. Yu. Georginova

An overview of existing opinions regarding the place occupied by the detective story in literature and culture as a whole is offered. Based on an analysis of the points of view of specialists involved in understanding genre originality such works, the problem of identifying the reasons for the popularity of detective stories among readers is solved. In addition, it is noted that interest in the study of the detective genre in the scientific community of literary scholars and linguists is not only not weakening, but also increasing.

Key words: detective; genre; popularity.

During development literary thought There is a constant reassessment of values, a change in methods and methods of organization works of art. In other words, there is a continuous process of enrichment through constant changes and modifications. Literary genres, being necessary components of literature, are also subject to change and revaluation. A striking example of this is the history of the development of the detective genre. Throughout the history of its formation, the detective genre has raised a lot of questions and debates among literary scholars. In particular, the question of the place occupied by the detective story in literature and culture as a whole remains ambiguous.

In the afterword to the collection “How to Make a Detective,” G. Andzhaparidze concludes that “the detective story occupies its own place in culture and nothing else has any chance of replacing it.”

place" [Andzhaparidze, 1990, p. 280]. In other words, the detective story is full-fledged and full-fledged in the world literary process. Proof of this is this collection, which includes works by such authors as A. Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, D. Hemmet, R. O. Freeman, S. S. Van Dyne, D. Sayers, R. Knox , M. Leblanc, C. Aveline, D. D. Carr, F. Glauser, E. S. Gardner, M. Allen, S. Maugham, R. Stout, E. Quinn, R. Chandler, J. Simenon, Boileau -Narsezhak, A. Christie, H. L. Borges, G. Andjaparidze.

Thus, the English thinker and writer, author of a number of detective stories, Gilbert K. Chesterton, in the essay “In Defense of Detective Literature,” writes: “Not only is the detective novel or story a completely legitimate literary genre, it also has very definite and real advantages as an instrument of the common good" [Chesterton, 1990, p. 16]. Moreover, the author insists that the appearance of the detective story is a natural historical move that meets the social and cultural needs of people: “Sooner or later, rough, popular literature should have appeared, revealing the romantic possibilities of the modern city. And it arose in the form of popular detective stories, as rough and blood-hot as the ballads of Robin Hood" [Chesterton, 1990, p. 18]. Argentine novelist, poet and publicist Jorge Louis Borges also emphasizes the need to distinguish the detective story as a separate genre: “In defense of the detective genre, I would say that it does not need protection: read today with a sense of superiority, it preserves order in an era of disorder. Such fidelity to the model is worthy of praise, and well deserved” [Borges, 1990, p. 271-272].

We also find defensive speech in R. Chandler: “It is hardly necessary to prove that the detective story is an important and viable form of art” [Chandler, 1990, p. 165].

In R. O. Freeman we find: “There is no genre more popular than the detective story... After all, it is quite obvious that a genre that has attracted the attention of people of culture and intellect cannot contain anything inherently bad” [Freeman, 1990, p. 29]. The fact that the detective

tive literature has been repeatedly opposed to genuine literature as “something unworthy,” which is explained by literary scholars by the existence, along with the real geniuses of their genre, of unscrupulous authors. According to R. O. Freeman, “a detective story capable of fully embodying all the characteristic properties of the genre, while remaining a work written good language, with a skillfully recreated background and curious characters corresponding to the strictest literary canons, remains perhaps the rarest phenomenon in artistic prose"[Freeman, 1990, p. 29]. We find a similar thought in R. Chanler: “Nevertheless, the detective - even at his most traditional form extremely difficult to write... A good detective writer (it’s impossible that we don’t have them) is forced to compete not only with all the unburied dead, but also with legions of their living colleagues” [Chandler, 1990, p. 166]. The author accurately defines the complexity of writing a good detective story: “It seems to me that the main difficulty facing a traditional, or classical, or detective novel based on logic and analysis is that in order to achieve at least relative perfection this requires qualities that are rarely present in totality in one person. The imperturbable logic-designer usually does not produce lively characters, his dialogues are boring, there is no plot dynamics, and there are absolutely no bright, precisely seen details. A rationalist pedant is as emotional as a drawing board. His scientist detective works in a shiny new laboratory, but it is impossible to remember the faces of his heroes. Well, a person who knows how to write dashing, bright prose will never undertake the hard labor of composing an iron-clad alibi” [Chandler, 1990, p. 167].

According to S. Eisenstein, the detective story has always attracted the reader “because it is the most effective genre of literature. You can't tear yourself away from him. It is constructed using such means and techniques that maximally rivet a person into reading. Detective

The most powerful remedy, the most purified, sharpened structure in a number of other literatures. This is the genre where the average

properties of influence are exposed to the limit" [Eisenstein, 1968, p. 107]. The detective story is distinguished as an independent literary genre based on its unique features. Thus, A. Vulis notes: “Detective is a genre. But this is also a topic. More precisely, a combination of both. The genre itself contains such a clear event program that we know in advance some of the main episodes of a work that has not yet been read” [Vulis, 1978, p. 246].

Thus, the detective story has a special place in literature due to the presence of compositional forms unique to it, the concept of characters, forms of influence, and even due to the presence of its reader. “There is such a type of modern reader - a lover of detective stories. This reader - and he has proliferated all over the world, and he can be counted in the millions - was created by Edgar Allan Poe,” we meet in Jorge Louis Borges [Borges, 1990, p. 264]. Who is the detective addressed to? “Genuine connoisseurs of the genre, who strongly prefer it to all others, who read detective stories meticulously and carefully, are mainly representatives of intellectual circles: theologians, humanities scholars, lawyers, and also, perhaps to a lesser extent, doctors and representatives of the exact sciences,” - Freeman concludes [Freeman, 1990, p. 32].

The interest of scientists - representatives of the scientific community - in reading detective literature is explained by the similarity of methods and techniques used in detective fiction and science. Thus, B. Brecht believes: “The scheme of a good detective novel resembles the method of work of our physicists: first, certain facts are written down, working hypotheses are put forward that could correspond to the facts. The addition of new facts and the rejection of known facts forces us to look for a new working hypothesis. Then the working hypothesis is tested: an experiment. If it is correct, the killer must appear somewhere as a result of the measures taken” [Brecht, 1988, p. 281]. “In general,” notes V.V. Melnik, “the process of creative thinking in science and detective fiction proceeds according to the same scenario even after overcoming cognitive and psychological barriers.”

the ditch ends with the comprehension of a paradoxical truth-discovery" [Melnik, 1992, p. 5]. This “invasion of science into literature” that occurs in a detective story makes it possible for the coexistence of two forms of thinking - artistic and conceptual-logical. The first, as we remember, operates with images, the second with concepts. In addition, the artistic form of the detective story is ideally suited for the active assimilation of scientific knowledge by the reader at the level of his own “discoveries” due to the fact that the detective scheme, as noted by a passionate admirer of the detective genre, S. M. Eisenstein, “reproduces the historical path of human consciousness from the pre-logical, figuratively -sensual thinking to logical and further to their synthesis, dialectical thinking" [Eisenstein, 1980, p. 133]. These views are shared by N. N. Volsky: “I assume that a detective story gives the reader a rare opportunity to use his abilities for dialectical thinking, to put into practice (albeit in artificial conditions of intellectual fun) that part of his spiritual potential, which Hegel calls “speculative reason.” “and which, being inherent in every reasonable person, finds almost no application in our everyday life” [Volsky, 2006, p. 6].

Thus, reading detective literature is correlated with the process of personality formation, progressively moving from the stage of sensory-imaginative thinking to the maturity of consciousness and the synthesis of both in the most perfect examples of the inner life of creative personalities.

N. Ilyina, analyzing the features and reasons for the popularity of the detective genre, comes to the conclusion that the detective story is literature and a game. We are talking about a game that is “useful, develops observation, intelligence, and develops in the participant of the game the ability to think analytically and understand strategy” [Ilyina, 1989, p. 320]. In her opinion, literature in the detective genre is “the ability to build a plot without sacrificing credibility for the sake of the game, clearly defined characters, lively dialogues and, of course, a reflection of life” [Ilyina, 1989, p. 328]

Julian Simons speaks about several other reasons that force the reader to turn to the detective genre. Exploring psychoanalytic connections, the author cites an article by Charles Rycroft in Psychology Quarterly in 1957, which continues the hypothesis of J. Pedersen-Krogg, according to which the detective’s perception characteristics are determined by impressions and fears from early childhood. The detective reader, according to Pedersen-Krogg, satisfies childhood curiosity by turning into an “investigator,” and thus “fully compensates for the helplessness, fear and guilt that have existed in the subconscious since childhood” [Simons, 1990, p. 230]. Julian Symons gives another version, proposed by W. H. Auden, which has a religious overtones: “Detectives have a magical property of alleviating our feelings of guilt. We live obeying and, in fact, fully accepting the dictates of the law. We turn to a detective story in which a person whose guilt was considered beyond doubt turns out to be innocent, and the real criminal is one who was completely above suspicion, and we find in it a way to escape from everyday life and return to an imaginary world of sinlessness, where “we can know love.” as love, and not as a punitive law” [Simons, 1990, p. 231-232].

In addition, the author proposes to develop the ideas of Auden and Fuller, “linking the pleasure we get from reading detective stories with the custom adopted among primitive peoples, according to which a tribe achieves purification by transferring its sins and misfortunes to some specific animal or person,” and connects the reasons for the detective’s decline precisely with the “weakening of the sense of sin”: “Where the awareness of one’s sinfulness in the religious sense of the word does not exist, the detective as an exorcist has nothing to do” [Simons, 1990, p. 233].

Interest in reading detective literature is associated with his ability to embody the “path of movement from darkness to light.” This means, first of all, solving a crime, solving a mystery. Edgar Allan Poe believed that the artistic joy and usefulness of the detective story lie precisely in this gradual movement from darkness to light, from

confusion to clarity. S. M. Eisenstein speaks of the situation of “coming into the light of God.” Moreover, a situation is understood as a case through which the attacker managed to escape from an impossible situation. And the detective brings the truth to the light of God, “for every detective boils down to the fact that from the “labyrinth” of misconceptions, false interpretations and dead ends, the true picture of the crime is finally brought “to the light of God” [Eisenstein, 1997, p. 100]. In this case, the detective, according to the author, appeals to the myth of the Minotaur and the primary complexes associated with it.

Thus, the detective story takes its rightful place in literature. “Over the past ten years, significantly more detective novels have appeared in Russia than in the previous period,” notes journalist and literary translator G. A. Tostyakov. “The change in censorship policy gave literary space and made it possible to expand the range of translated and published authors, perhaps the most widely read genre of popular literature” [Tolstyakov, 2000, p. 73].

Attempts to comprehend the role and significance of the detective genre are inseparable from the search for the reasons for its wide recognition. The undying popularity of this genre is explained by a number of reasons that force the reader to turn to the detective story again and again: the need to compensate for helplessness, to overcome fears, to alleviate feelings of guilt, to experience a feeling of cleansing from one’s sinfulness, in emotions; interest in play and competition, response to challenges to intellectual abilities; the need to read and observe curious characters; the desire to discern romance in everyday city life; a desire to participate in an intellectual game, guessing an event program, applying one’s abilities to dialectical thinking, and solving a mystery. As you can see, we're talking about about needs of two types: psychological and socio-cultural (Fig. 1). Note that the distinction between types is conditional, since upon closer examination almost all needs are of a psychological nature.

Rice. 1. Readers’ needs as the reasons for the popularity of the detective genre

The popularity of the detective genre - the growing interest on the part of readers, the constant attention to it by literary scholars and practitioners - has led to the appearance of an increasing number of linguistic works devoted to its study. The subject of attention is the cognitive, pragmatic, discursive and other parameters of a detective text [Vatolina, 2011; Dudina, 2008; Kryukova, 2012; Leskov, 2005; Merkulova, 2012; Teplykh, 2007, etc.]. The need for scientific research in this area is dictated by

an anthropocentric paradigm relevant in modern literary criticism and linguistics. The attention of scientists who recognize that it is important to take into account the human factor in language is drawn to the study of the cognitive structures of human consciousness involved in the representation, acquisition and processing of knowledge about the world, contained, in particular, in a literary text. Language is understood as a way of representing human knowledge about the world.

T. G. Vatolina devotes her research to the cognitive analysis of English-language detective works. Projecting the concept of “discourse” onto a detective text, the author proceeds from the interpretation of discourse in the cognitive aspect as a “special mentality” [Stepanov, 1995, p. 38] and in the communicative aspect as “a message - continuously renewed or complete, fragmented or integral, oral or written, sent and received in the process of communication” [Plotnikova, 2011, p. 7]. T. G. Vatolina proves that every detective work is created according to a standard cognitive model, the same for all detectives. The general cognitive model of detective discourse is, at the internal deep level, “a complete holistic construct consisting of interconnected fragments.”

Cognitive contours" [Vatolina, 2011, p. 20]. To describe the cognitive model of a detective, the author uses the technique of assigning generalized metanominations to characters, which was developed by Y. Kristeva when conducting a structural analysis of a literary text [Kristeva, 2004]. The deepest contour of the cognitive model of detective discourse is formed, according to the author, by five characters: detective, killer, witness, assistant, victim. Deepening the cognitive model of the detective, the author derives, based on speech act analysis, a separate human quality each character, abstracted and elevated to the level of a concept. Thus, the basic concept of speech acts of the Detective is the concept “Truth”, for the Murderer - “Lie”, for the Witness, Helper and Victim - the concept “Misunderstanding”. In addition, using the concept of “conceptual standard of the genre”, introduced

put into scientific use by S. N. Plotnikova and understood as a deep cognitive genre-forming basis, an invariant concept, compliance with which is mandatory for assigning a text to any genre, T. G. Vatolina defines the conceptual system of the detective story: “Murder” - “Investigation” -"Explanation".

I. A. Dudina devotes her research to the study of detective discourse in the light of the cognitive-communicative-pragmatic approach. Using the material of detective works by English and American writers, she identifies the status characteristics of detective discourse among other artistic discourses, derives elements and identifies models on the basis of which the discursive space of a detective text is formed. The author distinguishes between the concepts of “detective text” as “a linguistic formation that has a certain structure and is characterized by coherence and integrity” and “detective discourse” as “the scheme “writer - artistic investigation - reader”

Entertainment”, thereby pointing to the functional, dynamic nature of discourse, where text is an element of communication connecting the author and the reader [Dudina, 2008, p. 10]. The proposed approach to the interpretation of a literary text is based on the thesis that the human mind stores samples, mental models, i.e., specially structured knowledge representation systems that form the basis of our linguistic ability and speech behavior. The author identifies two cognitive models of detective discourse in the form of the structure of an object-referent situation and the structure of a procedural situation. The subject-referential situation in detective discourse is “a clear event program” that the author of a detective text plans according to certain rules of the detective genre. A procedural situation is “a situation in which the author of a detective text influences the reader, resorting to a certain tone, the nature of the narrative, which evokes a corresponding emotional mood in the reader in response” [Dudina, 2008, p. 12].

L. S. Kryukova explores the plot perspective in stories of the detective genre. The plot perspective is understood by the author as “a unit of structural organization of the text of the detective genre in revealing the intrigue embedded by the writer in the code-schematic content of the plot” [Kryukova, 2012, p. 3]. The distinctive features of the plot perspective of the detective genre are revealed, the nature of the refraction of the plot perspective in four types of speech situations (microthematic, thematic, macrothematic and textological) is described.

D. A. Shigonov analyzes the recurrent center as a coding unit of the text using the material of English detective stories. The recurrent center is understood as “a unit of text that represents a repetition of a thought that violates the linear presentation of the content to update what was previously stated,” as a result of which it acts as “a mechanism on the basis of which the connection between distant parts of the text that have a common semantic basis is carried out” [Shigonov, 2005, p. . 5]. Thus, in the text of a detective work, a coding structure, represented by a recurrent center, and a decoding structure are distinguished. The recurrent center contains the mystery of a detective work, explicated through distantly located sections of text that have a common semantic content. Recurrent centers are closely related to the plot perspective: “The plot perspective in the text of a detective work forms the content through an inconsistent connection of unfolding events” and “acts precisely as a way of integrating the work, which is based on distantly located recurrent centers” [Shigonov, 2005, p. eleven].

Please note that all this work recent years. Thus, the detective genre is increasingly becoming the subject of research by literary scholars, linguists, theorists and practitioners of the genre. Unabated scientific interest in genre features These texts are largely a consequence of the undiminished popularity of detective stories among the modern readership.

Literature

1. Andzhaparidze G. The cruelty of the canon and eternal novelty / G. Andzhaparidze // How to make a detective story / trans. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 279-292.

2. Borges X. L. Detective / L. H. Borges // How to make a detective / trans. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 236-272.

3. Brecht B. On literature: collection: translation from German / B. Brecht; comp., trans. and note. E. Katseva; entry Art. E. Knipovich. - 2nd edition, expanded. - Moscow: Fiction, 1988. - 524 p.

4. Vatolina T. G. Cognitive model of detective discourse: based on the material of English detective works of the 18-20 centuries. : abstract of the dissertation... candidate of philological sciences / T. G. Vatolina. - Irkutsk, 2011. - 22 p.

5. Volsky N.N. Easy reading: works on the theory and history of the detective genre / N.N. Volsky; Federal Agency for Education, State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education “Novosibirsk State. Pedagogical University. - Novosibirsk: [b. i.], 2006. - 277 p.

6. Vulis A. Poetics of the detective / A. Vulis // New world. - No. 1. - 1978. -S. 244-258.

7. Dudina I. A. Discursive space of a detective text: based on the material of the English language fiction 19-20 centuries : abstract of the dissertation. candidate of philological sciences / I. A. Dudina. - Krasnodar, 2008. - 24 p.

8. Ilyina N. What is a detective? / N. Ilyina // Ilyina N. Belogorsk fortress: satirical prose: 1955-1985 / N. Ilyina. -Moscow: Soviet writer, 1989. - pp. 320-330.

9. KristevaYu. Selected works: destruction of poetics: trans. from French / Yu. Kristeva. - Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2004. - 656 p.

10. Kryukova L. S. Plot perspective in stories of the detective genre: abstract of the dissertation. candidate of philological sciences / L. S. Kryukova. - Moscow, 2012. - 26 p.

11. Leskov S.V. Lexical and structural-compositional features of psychological detective work: abstract of the dissertation. candidate of philological sciences: 02.10.04 / S. V. Leskov. - St. Petersburg, 2005. - 23 p.

12. Melnik V.V. Cognitive and heuristic potential of fiction of the detective genre / V.V. Melnik // Psychological journal. - 1992. - T. 13. - No. 3. - P. 94-101.

13. Merkulova E. N. Pragmatic features of the actualization of the semi-sphere “Confidence” in English detective discourse: based on the works of A. Christie and A. Conan Doyle: abstract of the dissertation... candidate of philological sciences: 02.10.04 I E. N. Merkulova. - Barnaul, 2012. - 22 p.

14. Plotnikova N. S. Discursive space: to the problem of defining the concept I N. S. Plotnikova II Magister Dixit. - 2011. - No. 2 (06). -WITH. 21.

15. Simons J. From the book “Bloody Murder” I J. Simons II How to make a detective story I trans. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 225-246.

16. Stepanov Yu. S. Alternative world, discourse, fact and principles of causality I Yu. S. Stepanov II Language and science of the late twentieth century. - Moscow: Languages ​​of Russian Culture, 1995. - P. 35-73.

17. Teplykh R.R. Conceptospheres of English and Russian detective texts and their linguistic representation: abstract of the dissertation. Candidate of Philological Sciences: 02/10/20 I R. R. Teplykh. - Ufa, 2007. - 180 p.

18. Tolstyakov G. A. Detective: genre categories I G. A. Tolstyakov II World of bibliography. - 2000. - No. 3. - P. 73-78.

19. Freeman R. O. The art of detective I R. O. Freeman II How to make a detective story I per. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 28-37.

20. Chandler R. The simple art of killing I R. Chandler II How to make a detective story I trans. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 164-180.

21. Chesterton G. K. In Defense of Detective Literature I G. Chesterton II How to Make a Detective I per. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 16-24.

22. Shigonov D. A. Recurrent center as a coding unit of text: based on the material of English detective stories: abstract of the dissertation. Candidate of Philological Sciences I D. A. Shigonov. - Moscow, 2005. - 20 p.

23. Eisenstein S. About the detective I S. Eisenstein II Adventure film: Paths and quests: a collection of scientific works I rep. ed. A. S. Troshin. -Moscow: VNIIK, 1980. - P. 132-160.

24. Eisenstein S. Tragic and comic, their embodiment in the plot I S. Eisenstein II Questions of literature. - 1968. - No. 1. - P. 107.

© Georginova N. Yu., 2013

Crime Fiction: Causes of Popularity

The article reviews current opinions on the position held by crime fiction in literature and culture in general. Based on the analysis of viewpoints of the specialists addressing the issues of evaluating such works" genre peculiarities, the author identifies the reasons for the crime fiction popularity with readers. Furthermore, it is noted that the interest in studying the crime fiction genre has been growing lately rather than weakening in the academic society of literary scholars and linguists.

Key words: crime fiction; genre; popularity.

Georginova Natalya Yurievna, teacher of the department of specialized training in foreign languages, Murmansk State Technical University (Murmansk), [email protected].

Georginova, N., lecturer, Department of Specialized Training in Foreign Languages, Murmansk State Technical University (Murmansk), georna@mail. ru.

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Definition

The main feature of a detective story as a genre is the presence in the work of a certain mysterious incident, the circumstances of which are unknown and must be clarified. The most frequently described incident is a crime, although there are detective stories in which events that are not criminal are investigated (for example, in The Notes of Sherlock Holmes, which certainly belongs to the detective genre, in five stories out of eighteen there are no crimes).

An essential feature of the detective story is that the actual circumstances of the incident are not communicated to the reader, at least in its entirety, until the investigation is completed. Instead, the reader is led by the author through the investigative process, given the opportunity at each stage to construct their own versions and evaluate known facts. If the work initially describes all the details of the incident, or the incident does not contain anything unusual or mysterious, then it should no longer be classified as a pure detective story, but rather among related genres (action film, police novel, etc.).

According to the famous detective author Val McDermid, the detective story as a genre became possible only with the advent of a trial based on evidence.

Features of the genre

An important property of a classic detective story is the completeness of facts. The solution to the mystery cannot be based on information that was not provided to the reader during the description of the investigation. By the time the investigation is completed, the reader should have enough information to use it to find a solution on their own. Only certain minor details may be hidden that do not affect the possibility of revealing the secret. At the end of the investigation, all mysteries must be solved, all questions must be answered.

Several more signs of a classic detective story were collectively named by N. N. Volsky hyperdeterminism of the detective's world(“the world of a detective is much more orderly than the life around us”):

• Ordinary surroundings. The conditions in which the events of the detective story take place are generally common and well known to the reader (in any case, the reader himself believes that he is confident in them). Thanks to this, it is initially obvious to the reader which of what is described is ordinary and which is strange, beyond the scope.
• Stereotypical behavior of characters. The characters are largely devoid of originality, their psychology and behavioral patterns are quite transparent, predictable, and if they have any distinctive features, they become known to the reader. The motives for the actions (including the motives for the crime) of the characters are also stereotypical.
• The existence of a priori rules for constructing a plot, which do not always correspond to real life. So, for example, in a classic detective story, the narrator and detective, in principle, cannot turn out to be criminals.

This set of features narrows the field of possible logical constructions based on known facts, making it easier for the reader to analyze them. However, not all detective subgenres follow these rules exactly.

Another limitation is noted, which is almost always followed by a classic detective story - the inadmissibility of random errors and undetectable coincidences. For example, in real life, a witness can tell the truth, he can lie, he can be mistaken or misled, but he can also simply make an unmotivated mistake (accidentally mix up dates, amounts, names). In a detective story, the last possibility is excluded - the witness is either accurate, or lying, or his mistake has a logical justification.

Eremey Parnov points out the following features of the classic detective genre:

The first works of the detective genre are usually considered to be the stories of Edgar Poe, written in the 1840s, but elements of the detective story have been used by many authors before. For example, in the novel “The Adventures of Caleb Williams” by William Godwin (-), one of the central characters is an amateur detective. The “Notes” of E. Vidocq, published in. also had a great influence on the development of detective literature. However, it was Edgar Poe who created, according to Eremey Parnov, the first Great Detective - the amateur detective Dupin from the story “Murder in the Rue Morgue.” Dupin subsequently gave birth to Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown (Chesterton), Lecoq (Gaborio) and Mr. Cuffe (Wilkie Collins). It was Edgar Poe who introduced into the detective story the idea of ​​rivalry in solving a crime between a private detective and the official police, in which the private detective, as a rule, gains the upper hand.

The detective genre becomes popular in England after the release of W. Collins’s novels “The Woman in White” () and “The Moonstone” (). In the novels “The Hand of Wilder” () and “Checkmate” () by the Irish writer S. Le Fanu, a detective story is combined with a Gothic novel. The golden age of the detective story in England is considered to be the 30s - 70s. 20th century. It was at this time that the classic detective novels of Agatha Christie, F. Beading and other authors who influenced the development of the genre as a whole were published.

The founder of the French detective story is E. Gaboriau, the author of a series of novels about the detective Lecoq. Stevenson imitated Gaboriau in his detective stories (especially The Rajah's Diamond).

Stephen Van Dyne's Twenty Rules for Writing Mysteries

In 1928, the English writer Willard Hattington, better known by his pseudonym Stephen Van Dyne, published his set of literary rules, calling it “20 Rules for Writing Mysteries”:

1. It is necessary to provide the reader with equal opportunities to unravel the mysteries as the detective, for which purpose it is necessary to clearly and accurately report all incriminating traces.

2. In relation to the reader, only such tricks and deception are allowed that a criminal can use in relation to the detective.

3. Love is forbidden. The story should be a game of tag, not between lovers, but between a detective and a criminal.

4. Neither a detective nor another person professionally involved in the investigation can be a criminal.

5. Logical conclusions must lead to exposure. Accidental or unfounded confessions are not permitted.

6. A detective story cannot lack a detective who methodically searches for incriminating evidence, as a result of which he comes to a solution to the riddle.

7. The obligatory crime in a detective story is murder.

8. In solving a given mystery, all supernatural forces and circumstances must be excluded.

9. There can only be one detective in the story - the reader cannot compete with three or four members of the relay team at once.

10. The criminal should be one of the most or less significant characters well known to the reader.

11. An unacceptably cheap solution in which one of the servants is the criminal.

12. Although the criminal may have an accomplice, the story should mainly be about the capture of one person.

13. Secret or criminal communities have no place in a detective story.

14. The method of committing the murder and the investigation technique must be reasonable and scientifically sound.

15. For a savvy reader, the solution should be obvious.

16. In a detective story there is no place for literary nonsense, descriptions of painstakingly developed characters, or colorization of the situation using the means of fiction.

17. Under no circumstances can a criminal be a professional villain.

19. The motive for the crime is always of a private nature; it cannot be an espionage action, seasoned with any international intrigues or motives of the secret services.

The decade that followed the promulgation of the terms of the Van Dyne Convention finally discredited the detective story as a genre of literature. It is no coincidence that we know the detectives of previous eras well and every time we turn to their experience. But we can hardly, without looking into reference books, name the names of figures from the “Twenty Rules” clan. The modern Western detective story developed in spite of Van Dyne, refuting point after point, overcoming self-inflicted limitations. One paragraph (a detective should not be a criminal!), however, survived, although it was violated several times by the cinema. This is a reasonable prohibition, because it protects the very specificity of the detective story, its core line... modern novel we won’t see any trace of the “Rules”...

The Ten Commandments of a Detective Novel by Ronald Knox

Ronald Knox, one of the founders of the Detective Club, also proposed his own rules for writing detective stories:

I. The criminal should be someone mentioned at the beginning of the novel, but it should not be a person whose train of thought the reader was allowed to follow.

II. The action of supernatural or otherworldly forces is excluded as a matter of course.

III. The use of more than one secret room or secret passage is not permitted.

IV. It is unacceptable to use hitherto unknown poisons, as well as devices that require a long scientific explanation at the end of the book.

V. The work must not include a Chinese person.

VI. A detective should never be helped by a lucky chance; he should also not be guided by unconscious but correct intuition.

VII. A detective should not turn out to be a criminal himself.

VIII. Having come across one or another clue, the detective is obliged to immediately present it to the reader for study.

IX. The detective's stupid friend, Watson in one guise or another, should not hide any of the considerations that come to his mind; in his mental abilities he should be slightly inferior - but only slightly - to the average reader.

X. Indistinguishable twin brothers and doubles in general cannot appear in a novel unless the reader is properly prepared for this.

Some types of detectives

Closed detective

A subgenre that usually most closely follows the canons of the classic detective story. The plot is based on the investigation of a crime committed in a secluded place, where there is a strictly limited set of characters. There could be no one else in this place, so the crime could only have been committed by someone present. The investigation is conducted by someone at the scene of the crime with the help of other heroes.

This type of detective story is different in that the plot, in principle, eliminates the need to search for an unknown criminal. There are suspects, and the detective’s job is to obtain as much information as possible about the participants in the events, on the basis of which it will be possible to identify the criminal. Additional psychological tension is created by the fact that the criminal must be one of the well-known, nearby people, none of whom, usually, resemble the criminal. Sometimes in a closed-type detective story a whole series of crimes occurs (usually murders), as a result of which the number of suspects is constantly reduced.

Examples of closed-type detectives:

• Edgar Poe, “Murder in the Rue Morgue.”
• Cyril Hare, A Very English Murder.
• Agatha Christie, Ten Little Indians, Murder on the Orient Express (and almost all works).
• Boris Akunin, “Leviathan” (signed by the author as a “hermetic detective”).
• Leonid Slovin, “Additional arrives on the second path.”
• Gaston Leroux, “The Mystery of the Yellow Room”.

Psychological detective

This type of detective story may deviate somewhat from the classical canons in terms of the requirement for stereotypical behavior and the typical psychology of the heroes and is an intersection of the genre with a psychological novel. Usually a crime committed for personal reasons (envy, revenge) is investigated, and the main element of the investigation is the study of the personal characteristics of the suspects, their attachments, pain points, beliefs, prejudices, and clarification of the past. There is a school of French psychological detective.

• Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
• Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
• Boileau - Narcejac, “She-Wolf”, “She Who Wasn’t”, “Sea Gate”, “Outlining the Heart”.
• Japriseau, Sébastien, “Lady with glasses and a gun in a car.”
• Calef, Noel, "Elevator to the Scaffold."
• Ball, John, “A Stifling Night in Carolina.”

Historical detective

Police detective

Describes the work of a team of professionals. In works of this type, the main detective character is either absent or only marginally higher in importance compared to the rest of the team. In terms of the authenticity of the plot, it is closest to reality and, accordingly, deviates to the greatest extent from the canons of the pure detective genre (the professional routine is described in detail with details not directly related to the plot, there is a significant proportion of accidents and coincidences, the presence of

At all times, humanity has been gripped by the desire to find the truth, or at least enjoy the process of searching for it. Do you think this is a controversial statement? Open any news aggregator and glance at the headlines - every third article will definitely be related to high-profile investigations and information scandals.

Appearance time: 19th century

Place of appearance: USA

Canon: strict but flexible

Spreading: initially only European and American literature, on this moment found almost everywhere

Peculiarities: refers to genre literature

A kind of proof of a person's interest in solving mysteries is the special boom of our time for the hero Conan Doyle: Guy Ritchie's films, the BBC series, and all this, not counting the very recent Mister Holmes, where the role of a desperately aging detective struggling with dementia was brilliantly played by the main movie wizard Ian McKellen).

In literature, this desire to get to the bottom of the truth is embodied in the detective genre, which is truly popular: it is difficult to find other such literary examples when both poles of the genre are commercially successful and certainly popular - both the low-boulevard (Daria Dontsova) and the intellectually refined (for example, the novel by Umberto Eco "Name of the Rose").

The Birth of a Detective

The main feature of a detective story as a genre is the presence of a mysterious incident, the circumstances of which are confusing, mysterious and must be clarified. In the vast majority of works, such an incident becomes a crime.

Of course, crime appears at the same time as the person. Literature, naturally, also does not ignore it: the plot of many myths and legends is built around crimes and punishments for them by the gods. Aeschylus and Sophocles already write about brutal murders and bloody revenge; he invents terrible torments for sinners of all kinds in “ Divine Comedy» Dante,

Swift addresses political atrocities in his satire, and this list can be continued indefinitely. And yet, all these works are not detective stories. Why?

Because the crime is only the beginning of a detective story, and the entire development of the plot is built on the process of investigation, when the reader, together with the main character, can get acquainted with the facts and guesses of the case, build hypotheses and refute them with new evidence. Val McDermid, a Scottish writer and author of detective stories, believes, not without reason, that the emergence of the genre became possible only after the trial began to be based on evidence, and not on a preponderance, for example, of white or black pebbles, which were placed on the scales in favor of innocence or the guilt of the defendant, residents of the polis in Ancient Greece.

Therefore, the conversation about the detective story as a genre begins in the 19th century, when crime itself becomes a social category, when interest in criminal investigation appears. There are vivid images criminals of all stripes: from the noble “Robin Hood” Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” by V. Hugo and the ideological murderer Raskolnikov to the charismatic Balzac Vautrin and the frankly unpleasant Feigin in “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens.

They appear, however, also not by chance.

Therefore, the conversation about the detective story as a genre begins in the 19th century, when crime itself becomes a social category, when interest in criminal investigation appears.

It is believed that the real-life prototype of Vautrin, Jean Valjean, and several other heroes was the legendary Eugene Francois Vidocq, a French criminal, later the head of the National Security Administration, who soon said goodbye to such a dizzying career (because the police did not forgive him for his criminal past , and criminals - cooperation with the authorities) and became one of the first private detectives, the “father” of criminal investigation.

In 1828, not without the help of a literary black, Vidocq published an autobiographical book, “Notes of Vidocq, Chief of the Paris Secret Police,” which is extremely popular and to which, for example, Eugene Sue turns when writing his “Parisian Secrets,” as well as the already mentioned Balzac and Hugo. It is known for certain that Edgar Allan Poe, the founder of the detective story as a genre, knew about Vidocq himself and his notes.

Edgar Allan Poe at the Origins of the Genre

The founder of the detective story is rightly considered Edgar Allan Poe - a man who actually stood at the origins of many genres: science fiction, psychological American short stories, and his work as a whole largely anticipated such literary movement as decadence, which was characterized by a special atmosphere of doom, mysticism, and the irrationality of what was happening.

Strictly speaking, Edgar Allan Poe wrote only four stories: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841), “The Mystery of Marie Roget” (1842), “The Gold Bug” (1843) and “The Purloined Letter” (1844), which with some stretch ( which we will return to a little later) can be called detective stories, and it is on them that his fame as the founder of this genre, recognized not only by critics, but also by the writers themselves, rests. So, for example, Arthur Conan Doyle, not last man in the detective world, wrote: “Edgar Allan Poe,

scattered, with his characteristic ingenious carelessness, the seeds from which so many modern literary forms, was the father of the detective story and outlined its boundaries with such completeness that I do not see how followers can find new territory which they would dare to call their own... Writers are forced to walk a narrow path, constantly discerning traces of what has passed before them Edgar Allan Poe..."

Poe himself did not use the word “detective,” which simply did not exist in his time, and called his stories “logical.” In general, one of the first “codes” of the genre appeared only in 1928 and is associated with the name of the English writer Stephen Van Dyne, who, relying on detective stories of past years, deduced twenty characteristic laws according to which the narrative is built.

Dupin's conversation with the sailor. Illustration for the story “Murder in the Rue Morgue” by Byam Shaw (1909)

So, from the point of view of these laws (which make no sense to list here: they are easy to find on the Internet), Poe’s stories, of course, are not canonical. There is no murder in The Purloined Letter or The Gold Bug. All four stories are characterized by long descriptions, which, according to Van Dyne, are contraindicated for a detective story.

English detective

One of the curious features of the detective genre is associated with its national specificity, which is probably due to the fact that one or another nation thinks differently, and it is the thinking process that forms the plot basis of the story.

“Writers are forced to follow a narrow path, constantly discerning the traces of Edgar Allan Poe who passed before them...”

The English detective story has become a kind of classic of the genre, which begins with Wilkie Collins, whose novel The Moonstone (1868) is considered the first detective novel in English.

In 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “A Scandal in Bohemia” was published, which will be the first work in the “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” series and will turn the detective (who first appeared in the image of Auguste Dupin by Edgar Poe) into the Great Detective - a man endowed with the sharpest mind and the ability to unravel the most seemingly hopeless cases, always believing in reason and logic and trying to explain the world by finding connections between the most diverse phenomena.

The English detective story is called “analytical” because it is quite hermetic: the action, as a rule, takes place in one or at most several rooms, and, of course, in the head of the one who is looking. In a certain existential sense, this is an optimistic detective: the criminal brings chaos to the world with his actions, and the detective literally corrects the consequences and restores lost harmony.

The golden age of the detective story in England was the 30s to the 70s. 20th century, when, for example, Agatha Christie came to the fore, creating real symbols of the genre: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie is a master of the “closed-type detective”, in which, according to researcher Dmitry Spiridonov, the role of the detective is transformed: “In a post-war world, devoid of traditional value guidelines, initially inharmonious, the detective turns out to be an eccentric “stranger” (Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple), “ spying on external events.”

With the arrival of Ian Fleming, James Bond's father, the English detective turns into new genre- a spy novel and begins to move closer to the American detective: solving the mystery becomes less important, the novel is based on the image of a charismatic protagonist, a kind of archetype of masculinity.

American detective

The American detective begins in full with Dashiell Hammett, best novel which is considered to be “The Maltese Falcon” (1930), brilliantly filmed in Hollywood (in leading role Humphrey Bogart) and introducing to the public the type of a completely new detective - Sam Spade, echoes of which are found even in the image of the hero of the popular computer game, "Max Payne". Perhaps critics of Hammett's work will say the best about him.

Richard Lyman calls him a “knockout detective,” a man so obsessed with his goal that neither a stray bullet, nor a femme fatale, nor the law he actually serves can stop him.

Scottish writer William K. Harvey calls Spade the father of all tough private detectives and a sinisterly dark character. “It is he, according to Scott, who is responsible for the bottle of whiskey in the desk drawer of every private detective in the United States, without which they will feel unarmed, literally naked,” writes Wikipedia.

Researchers note that in the American “hard-boiled” detective, the detective is transformed from a thinker and observer into an active actor, which not only solves the riddle, but also physically catches the criminal.

French detective

Perhaps the most famous representative of the French detective story is Georges Simenon, who created Commissar Maigret, a wise policeman who cannot be imagined without a pipe in his mouth.

In a certain existential sense, this is an optimistic detective - the criminal brings chaos to the world with his actions, and the detective literally corrects the consequences and restores the lost harmony.

For his method of work - and Maigret had to understand the suspect, put himself in his place and understand the motives for the crime committed - and the fact that he often sympathized more with the criminal than with the victim, the policeman earned the nickname “humane commissar”.

Among the creators of the French detective story, it is worth mentioning Sebastian Japrizot, who possessed great feeling humor, so his detective stories (especially the early ones, where there is not yet much psychoanalysis) are a wonderful cocktail of mystery, cheerful optimism and irony.

In general, in France, the detective story has become, as it were, a kind of psychological novel genre, because with all the intricacies of the plot, the authors are much more interested in criminals as people, their experiences, the circumstances of their lives that pushed them to murder or robbery, than in directly solving the mystery.

Modern understanding of the detective genre

The Scandinavians have become the kings of the modern detective genre. Dane Peter Høgh and Norwegian Jo Nesbø seem to have combined three of the most famous national detective stories into one, adding knowledge of everyday life and criticism of modernity to this cocktail.

We read “Smilla and Her Sense of Snow” by Høg not only to find out how and why a little boy died, but we are captivated by the presentation and the eternal questions that rise to the surface: the novel is written from the point of view of a Greenlandic woman who knows seventy definitions of snow and is forced to live in a city where her skills and knowledge have nowhere to be useful, where she is a stranger and misunderstood also because she loves snow and cold more than warmth and love.

Nesbø is a little more “detective” - his series of books about the policeman Harry Hole is very popular, and the main character himself is somewhat reminiscent of “cool” American detectives who could solve a riddle and “punch you in the face.” However, his detective story is less and less detective and more and more suspense - a literary roller coaster, where there is room for both mesmerizing horror and relieved laughter.

Among the latest detective stories, it is worth noting the novels of JK Rowling, which were published both under her real name (The Casual Vacancy) and under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith (The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm, Career of Evil). Many critics note that Rowling's detective stories are similar to Agatha Christie's detective stories: excellent language, well-developed intrigue, but they seem a little studentish.

The detective genre is being developed quite interestingly by Boris Akunin, whose series about the extraordinary detective Erast Fandorin was a huge success. Fandorin is a Russian intellectual and a Japanese scholar (as, indeed, is his creator), and therefore is equally easy to navigate both Russian realities (he unravels cases related to General Skobelev and the thieves from Khitrovka) and Japanese ones. So, for example, the first volume of the novel “The Diamond Chariot” is set in the Russian-Japanese War, and the experienced Erast Petrovich stands in the way of Japanese agents introduced into Russia, and the second volume takes us to Japan in 1878, where the love story of a young man unfolds. Fandorin and the beautiful Midori.

The interest in solving mysteries, it seems, will never let us go, so the detective story, endlessly modified, becoming either a thriller, or a noir, or an action film, or a historical novel, will still remain itself - a genre that gives hope that an answer can be found to any question, no matter how unpleasant it may be. ■

Ekaterina Orlova