This master's thesis will explore the ways in which the fictional and real world blends with detective stories readers. In the methodological part, the author will focus on theoretical problems associated with perception of cult literary works, readers' activity and further expansion of fictional worlds. The phenomena the author will explore are, for example, fan clubs, fan fiction, fan art, naming real entities according to fictional characters and places, and searching for fictional entities in the real world. The practical part of this thesis will be devoted to three detective stories authors - A. C. Doyle, A. Christie and M. Jennings, and their functioning as cultural phenomena both in the Czech and world context.

The subject matter of my study is representations of Russia in Anglo-American and Russian spy novels, mysteries, and action thrillers of the 1990s. Especially suitable for representing the world split between good and evil, these genres played a prominent role in constructing the image of the other during the Cold War. Crime fiction then is an important source for grasping the changes in representing Russia after the Cold War. My hypothesis is that despite the changes in the political roles of Russia and the United States, the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union continued to have a significant impact on popular fiction about Russia in the 1990s. A comparative perspective on depictions of Russia in the 1990s is particularly suitable in regard to American and Russian popular cultures because during the Cold War, Soviet and American identities were formed in view of the other. A comparative approach to the study of Russian popular fiction is additionally justified by the role that the idea of the West had played in Russian cultural history starting from the early eighteenth century. Reflection on depictions of Russia in crime fiction by writers coming from the two formerly antagonistic cultures poses the problem of representation in its relationship to time, history, politics, popular culture, and genre. The methods used in this dissertation derive from the field of cultural studies, history, and structuralist poetics. A combination of structuralist readings and social theory allows me to uncover the ways in which popular detective genres changed in response to the sentiments of nostalgia and anxiety about repressed or lost identities, the sentiments that were typical of the 1990s. My study of Anglo-American and Russian spy novels, mysteries, and action thrillers contributes to our understanding of the ways American and Russian cultures invent and reinvent themselves after a significant historical rupture, how they mobilize the past for making sense of the present. Drawing on readings of literature and culture by such scholars as Mikhail Bakhtin, Tzvetan Todorov, Siegfried Kracauer, Andreas Huyssen, Fredric Jameson, and Svetlana Boym, I show that differences in Anglo-American and Russian representations of Russia are a result of cultural asymmetries and cultural chronotopes in the United States and in Russia. I argue that Russian and American crime fiction of the 1990s re-writes Russia in the light of cultural memory, nostalgia, and historical sensibilities after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union. Memories of the Cold War and coming to terms with the end of the Cold War played a defining role in depicting Russia by Anglo-American detective authors of the 1990s; this role is clear from the genre changes in Anglo-American thrillers about Russia. Similarly, reconsideration of Russian history became an essential characteristic in the development of the new Russian detektiv. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Die term speurverhaal impliseer ’n spesifieke soort verhaal of genre, tradisioneel triviaalliteratuur of ontspanningslektuur, met spesifieke kodes en konvensies. Enige konvensies is egter aanpasbaar en die grense tussen hoë kuns en populêre kultuur is vloeibaar, sodat dit moontlik is dat daar wel ʼn vertakking of subgenre wat die literêre speurverhaal genoem kan word, kon ontwikkel het. Die doel van hierdie verhandeling is om die volgende navorsingsvrae te beantwoord: Is daar wel speurverhale wat as literêre speurverhale gekategoriseer kan word? Indien nie, waarom word die kodes van die speurverhaal as narratiewe strategie gekies vir sekere romans? Wat is die verskille en ooreenkomste tussen die tradisionele speurverhaal en die sogenaamde literêre speurverhaal? Die verskynsel word ondersoek word deur twee romans wat moontlik as literêre speurverhale geklassifiseer kan word, nl. Een vir Azazel (Leroux, 1984) en Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat (Winterbach, 2006), te vergelyk met twee tradisionele speurverhale, nl. Reuk van die dood (Mouton, 2008) en Plaasmoord (Brynard, 2009), aan die hand van sekere struktuurelemente, nl. spanningslyn, plot, intrige, karakterisering, verteller, vertellersperspektief, tyd, en ruimte. ENGLISH : The term detective story indicates a specific kind of story or genre, traditionally recreational and light reading, with specific codes and conventions. However, any set of conventions are pliable and the boundaries between recreational and high art are fluid and constantly shifting. It is therefore possible that a subgenre of the detective story that can be called the literary detective story could have developed. The goal of this dissertation is to answer the following research questions: Are there detective stories that can be categorised as literary detective stories? If not, why is the detective element chosen as a narrative strategy for some novels? What are the differences and similarities between the traditional detective story and the so called literary detective novel? / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Afrikaans / unrestricted

The study examines cognitive rationality as to()l for problemsolving within the context of a movement from determinism and monolithic universal Reason towards indeterminism and plurality. It is contended that theories of literature do not provide an adequate conceptual framework, and therefore, extensive use is made of pluralist fallibilism (Popper, Helmut Spinner) and chaos theory. The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche is viewed as a decisive influence in the shift towards plurality and scepticism. In chapter 2, Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, a novel by Agatha Christie and Gaston Leroux's Le mystere de Ia chambre jaune are discussed as examples of optimistic rationalism. Chapter 3 indicates that Eco's II nome della rosa emphasizes the conjectural nature of truth and objective knowledge, underpinned by a 'soft' rationalism which amounts to monopolistic pluralism. Chapter 4 analyses the defeat of cognitive rationality by the complex interaction of a multiplicity of independent causal series. The detectives' relationship with the feminine exemplifies the interpenetration of rationality and the instinctual, while the mystery of the feminine is a metaphor for impenetrable complexity. Chapter 5 shows that hypotheses concerning random complex systems remain inconclusive. However, as the trajectory of a complex system can be regulated, so reason can be viewed as the underlying regulative pattern (strange attractorl for an infinite proliferation of hypotheses. Thus, despite .shifting conceptions of rationality and order, all the detectives in the study accept objective truth as regulative principle and are involved in a search for objective knowledge / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / D.Litt. et Phil. (Theory of literature)

<p>Uppsatsen ingår i kursen Skapande svenska C, 30 hp inom ämnet Litteraturvetenskap vid Umeå Universitet.</p>

This work examines the significance of drugs in Victorian stories of detection through a selection of detective fiction published between the years 1860 and 1890. The main purpose of the work is to show how these texts make a specific link between drugs and detection, and use this link to engage themselves in questions concerning reading and the consumption of fiction. I wish to argue, first, that drugs play a significant role in Victorian detective stories as a device to produce a sense of mystery and excitement in these texts. Secondly, I shall hope to show how this is achieved especially by presenting detection as having the drug-like qualities of intoxication and addiction. And thirdly, I shall examine how this particular characterisation of detection evokes a conception of detective fiction as a drug and invites the reader to consider her experience of reading in terms of an experience of drugs. In short, drugs, in these narratives, do not appear as a mere theme or a plot element, but can be seen to affect the very narrative form and structure of the fiction.

The purpose of this creative project is to explore the concept of character development as it appears in non-linear story formats. These formats are those of relatively recent technological advances that have paved the way for stories to be related to an audience in ways that are completely unique to each individual audience member. This project specifically is a murder mystery story, told in such a non-linear fashion. The story is capable of being viewed in a completely unique manner by each individual audience member. From this story, viewer's opinions have been examined, and conclusions have been drawn of the value and significance of non-linear story formats in relation to character development. / Department of Telecommunications

This two-part study of the criminal investigation process first evaluated the frequency with which patrol officers solve cases assigned to the investigations division and then examined how detectives spent their time, both on case assignments and on other activity not related to current case assignment. Cases assigned to the investigations division for follow up were examined to determine how often a case was cleared by the patrol officer. The detective's time was then evaluated in order to determine how much time detectives spent on investigative tasks and other activities. This study confirms that the patrol officer should be given more time to conduct preliminary investigations for specific cases, and that tasks performed by detectives could be shifted to other personnel in the department. Both actions should serve to positively impact case clearance rates.

M.A. (African Languages) / The main aim of this study is to make a critical evaluation of the detective story, and to draw a line of demarcation between a detective and a crime story. This chapter is based on the theoretical arguments of different scholars. However, an extensive study needs to be done to come up with a clear and convincing difference between the two ...

Este estudo parte de uma visão teórica da literatura policial para analisar obras de três escritores latino-americanos: Machado de Assis, Jorge Luis Borges e Roberto Bolaño. O objetivo é fornecer um novo subsídio teórico para a leitura destes autores e, por outro lado, aprofundar a visão sobre o gênero policial no Brasil, ampliando, a partir dele, as discussões relacionadas à teoria literária. A causa secreta é um conto contemporâneo ao marco do nascimento do gênero policial nos Estados Unidos, com Edgar Allan Poe. Neste momento em que a literatura policial ainda não está consolidada, Machado de Assis cria também um personagem apaixonado pela análise dos caracteres humanos, o médico Garcia. Desde o título, como nos livros policiais, o leitor está procurando um segredo, cuja solução depende de sua confiança na autoridade narrativa, mas, em última análise, nunca pode ser realmente liquidado, porque nele reside o enigma fundamental da literatura: a impossibilidade de apropriação do Outro. Em El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan, Jorge Luis Borges usa o gênero para travar uma discussão sobre o tempo na narrativa e revolve o relato sobre si mesmo, usando uma autoinserção temporal. Foi considerado, assim, uma subversão na medida em que, pretensamente, destrói as balizas de gênero. Entretanto, segundo Jacques Derrida, um gênero é formado não só de marcas que identificam uma obra com a outra, mas também por alterações dentro da forma, que aumentam os limites genéricos. Desta forma, Borges, do ponto de vista da literatura policial, ajuda a criar um novo subgênero, o policial metafísico. Desde a perspectiva de um novo policial que discute seu próprio estatuto, analisamos o romance do escritor chileno Roberto Bolaño, Los detectives salvajes, em que lemos a história da busca de uma pessoa que, na verdade, está morta e só sabemos de sua morte no final da narrativa. Isso opera uma diferença fundamental: esta obra narra pela lente do luto, enquanto no policial esta dimensão é suplantada pela necessidade da intriga. De outra forma, o percurso dos personagens também responde à sombra do enigma que é a voz do Outro. A literatura policial, assim, é um gênero caracterizado por uma busca incessante, motivada por um enigma que o detetive precisa solucionar. Tradicionalmente, esta demanda é bem sucedida. Entretanto, nunca vemos o personagem, satisfeito por mais um trabalho resolvido, voltar para casa, o que prova que, de alguma forma, nem ele mesmo está convencido da solução do enigma. O segredo, portanto, exige uma dedicação infinita. De alguma forma, o personagem modelar do detetive reflete o trabalho do crítico literário. A busca incessante, o solilóquio que esconde o enigma, a necessidade de autoridade narrativa são questões importantes do nosso trabalho. Qual seria a responsabilidade, portanto, do crítico? Estaria disposto a sacrificar sua autoridade pela verdade? / This research begins with a theoretical vision of crime fiction to analyze works of three Latin-american authors: Machado de Assis, Jorge Luis Borges and Roberto Bolaño. The objective is to offer a new theoretical basis for reading these writers and also to deepen the study of crime fiction in Brazil, widening, thus, the debates regarding literary theory. A causa secreta is a short story contemporary of the birth of crime fiction in the United States, with Edgar Allan Poe. In that moment, when crime fiction wasnt consolidated yet, Machado de Assis also created a character passionate for the analysis of human character, doctor Garcia. From the title, as to the mystery book itself, the reader is looking for a secret, and the solution will only be brought through the readers distrust of the narrative settings. But the enigma, in fact, can never be solved because within it there is the fundamental secret of literature: the impossibility of appropriation of the Other. In El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan Jorge Luis Borges uses the genre to discuss time in fiction and turns the narrative upon itself by creating a temporal auto insertion. It is considered, thus, a subversion as it allegedly destroys the laws of the genre. However, according to Jacques Derrida, a genre is formed not only by the marks that defines it, but also by the alterations within its form, which enlarges its limits. In this way, through the point of view of crime fiction, Borges contributes to create a new subgenre: the metaphysical crime fiction. Through the perspective of a new crime fiction that questions its own statute, we analyzed the novel Los detectives salvajes, by Chilean author Roberto Bolaño, in which we read the story of a search of a person who, actually, is already dead, and we only get to know it in the end of the novel. This operates a structural difference: the book narrates through the lens of mourning, while in crime fiction this sentiment is superseded by the necessity of intrigue. In another way, the course of those characters also responds to the shadows of the enigma that is the voice of the Other. Crime fiction, thus, is a genre based on a relentless quest, motivated by an enigma that the detective has to solve. Traditionally, this demand is well succeeded. But we never see the detective, satisfied after another job well done, going back home, which proves that, in a way, not even he is convinced that the enigma is solved. In a way, the model character of the detective reflects, as some authors suggest, the work of the literary critic. The endless search, the monologue that hides the enigma, the necessity of narrative authority all this elements are important to our work. Then, what is the responsibility of the critic? Is he willing to sacrifice his authority for the truth?