Nombre de lectures concernant la fiction d’espionnage de John le Carré s’accordent sur la place particulière que celle-ci occupe au sein du genre. Pourtant, aucune ne met en regard la spécificité des romans et de l’écriture le carréenne, avec ses emprunts au roman de détection ou au roman américain hard-boiled, et le contexte politique, philosophique et épistémologique. Lorsque les premiers romans de le Carré sont publiés, dans les années 1960, le monde connaît d’importants bouleversements sociaux et politiques. Si de nouveaux enjeux naissent alors dans le roman d’espionnage, et si la fiction de John le Carré fait partie de celles qui incarnent ces changements, on retrouve plus particulièrement chez l’auteur les marques de la rupture épistémologique des années 1960 : flexibilité des valeurs morales au sein des services de renseignements, vide dogmatique, et parfois idéologique, chez l’agent professionnel, ou encore remise en cause de l’Histoire, qui est perçue chez le Carré comme le résultat d’actes de manipulation. Ainsi, en entrant dans l’ère du soupçon, telle qu’elle est dépeinte et magnifiée dans le monde secret de le Carré, son oeuvre offre un reflet des inquiétudes qui marquent la postmodernité de la fin du XXe siècle. Pourtant, l’oeuvre s’en éloigne d’un autre côté en ce qu’il ne renvoie pas à un vertige sans fin du sens ou une absence totale de vérité. Il laisse la possibilité au héros d’évoluer et d’apprendre. D’un point de vue littéraire, bien que le Carré suive le modèle d’écriture du roman d’espionnage, il l’a aussi en partie refaçonné de l’intérieur en le tirant du côté du roman policier et de la quête de vérité mais aussi en l’enrichissant des questions postmodernes. L’oeuvre de l’auteur se retrouve donc à une position médiane : il est entré dans la postmodernité sans toutefois céder à l’excès de la multiplicité ou du chaos et il continue d’utiliser les conventions d’un genre qu’il maniepour les faire évoluer vers une réflexion sur la place de l’être humain / Many readings of John le Carré’s spy fiction agree on its particular position within the genre. However, none link the specificity of the le carrean novels and writings, borrowing from the detective novel and the American hard-boiled novel, to the political, philosophical and epistemological context. When the first novels by John le Carré were published, in the 1960s, the world was facing great political and social upheavals. If new elements are then apparent in the spy novel, and if le Carré’s fiction is one of those which embodies these changes, traces of the epistemological break of the 1960s is clear in the author’s works: the flexibility of the moral values within the secret services, the dogmatic, and sometimes ideological, void in the professional agent, or again the reassessment of History, perceived as the result of acts of manipulation in le carrean fiction. Therefore, while his work enters the era of suspicion, as described and magnified in the covert world of John le Carré, it is a reflection of the anxieties specific to postmodernity at the end of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, on the other hand, the novels drift away from this as they do not convey an endless multiplication of meanings or a total absence of truth. The hero has the possibility of evolving and learning in his novels. From a literary standpoint, although le Carré follows the writing pattern of the spy novel, he has also partly reshaped it from the inside when he brought it towards the detective novel and the quest for truth and when he enriched it with postmodern questions. His work therefore occupies an in-between position: it has entered postmodernity without giving way to the excess of multiplicity or chaos, and it has continued to use the genre conventions to make them evolve towards a reflection on the place of the human being

In Los Angeles, the influence of Hollywood and the film industry, combined with a non-stop barrage of media images, has blurred the line between the real and imaged. The literature reveals a city exploding with cultural, racial and social differences, making Los Angeles a confusing and alienating place. The literature of Los Angeles reflects the changing face of the city. Los Angeles was always a city with a promising future, economic booms and optimism seemed to suggest that here was a place where the American Dream really could come true. Thousands travelled west in search of sunshine, oranges and a life that formerly, they could only dream of having. Yet, the literature of Los Angeles has highlighted the city's actual history together with a realization of undercurrents of violence, prejudice, depression and shattered dreams. The past, present and future is used to reveal a city that is in stark opposition to the Los Angeles, waves of immigrants came to find. This thesis explores the idea of the dreamer coming west to Los Angeles within the literature and the variety of ways in the travellers' romantic notions of Los Angeles as a city of promise, is betrayed, leaving a desperate people in its wake. The literature shows that beneath the shiny surface of a city founded on sunshine and prosperity, corruption reached all levels of society and the 'mean streets' abound. Later, influenced by an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness caused by Post-war nuclear depression, McCarthyism, loss of identity, and living in a city fragmented by racial tension and an ever growing gap between the very rich and the very poor, the literature of Los Angeles reflects not only the fears of that city, but of American society as a whole. The collision of technology, rapid progression and population explosion turned Los Angeles into a disconnected city, where the real and imagined merge in a cityscape that demonstrates a conflicting combination of historical replication, original design and movie-set inspiration. Nothing is ever what it appears to be in Los Angeles.

Ce mémoire s’intéresse au travail d’enquête et plus spécifiquement à la méthode du détective privé dans le diptyque que composent Un privé à Tanger (1987) et ma haie : Un privé à Tanger II (2001) du poète français Emmanuel Hocquard. Suivant l’hypothèse que le diptyque ne constitue pas seulement un travail sur l’enquête, mais bien un travail d’enquête, nous chercherons à rendre compte, dans toute sa complexité et sa richesse, de la teneur de cette enquête. Puisant à la fois dans les théories de l’enquête, les études littéraires, les études médiatiques et la philosophie, ce mémoire s’affairera à montrer le fonctionnement du diptyque comme ouvrage de savoir. Dans un premier temps, nous travaillerons à détailler la généalogie de la figure du privé et du polar sous le signe desquels est posé le diptyque. En insistant sur les nombreuses affinités entre la pratique littéraire de l’écrivain hard-boiled états-unien Raymond Chandler et celle d’Emmanuel Hocquard dans Un privé à Tanger I et II, nous chercherons à aborder leur relation sous l’angle de l’héritage plutôt que sous celui du pastiche. Puis, fort de cette compréhension du rapport étroit entre le poète français et le polar américain, nous travaillerons, dans un second temps, à analyser la structure du diptyque à l’aune de ce que nous appellerons, à la suite de Christophe Hanna et Philippe Charron, la méthode du privé. Dans un troisième temps, nous nous intéresserons à l’objet et aux visées de l’enquête hocquardienne. Si, comme l’affirme Gilles A. Tiberghien et Jean-François Puff, l’enquête hocquardienne est autoréflexive et autobiographique, notre travail sera non pas de montrer un caractère spéculaire, mais plutôt de cerner la façon dont, chez Hocquard, l’anecdotique et le personnel sont intégrés à une réflexion politique et éthique. / This dissertation explores the investigative work and the implementation of the private detective method in the diptych Un privé à Tanger, an oeuvre written by the French poet Emmanuel Hocquard and composed of Un privé à Tanger (1987) and ma haie : Un privé à Tanger II (2001). Following the hypothesis that the diptych is not only a work on investigation, but also a work of investigation, we will seek to understand the terms of this inquiry in all its complexity. Through the use of a diverse theoretical framework – combining investigation studies, literary studies, media studies and philosophy –, this dissertation aims to make plain of the inner operations of the diptych as a work of knowledge. Firstly, we will delineate the genealogy of the diptych and detail its relation with the hard-boiled novel and the writings of Raymond Chandler; a relation that can’t and won’t be described as a pastiche. Secondly, we will analyse the structure of the diptych through its connection to what we’ll name, following the works of Philippe Charron and Christophe Hanna, the private’s method. Thirdly, we will turn our attention to the object of the diptych’s investigation. As claimed by Gilles A. Tiberghien and Jean-François Puff, the hocquardian investigation can be characterize as self-reflective and autobiographical, our work will then be to make clear of the ways in which, in the works of Hocquard, the realm of the anecdotal and the personal, is used for ethical and political thinking.

Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and Red Harvest are examples of iconic hard-boiled detective literature that reflect on the anxieties and tensions of the 1930s-1940s. With the Great Depression looming over these decades, the genre uses the hard-boiled detective as a way to communicate with and understand this time period. In our analysis of game theory, we look at how Dashiell Hammett's characters make decisions based on the actions of other players in the game, illustrating the influences of bargaining power and manipulation. With characters that oftentimes find themselves in situations where they must collude to reach maximum utility, the novels explore the various ways in which one player takes advantage of another, almost always leading towards the detective's best payoff. Game theory provides us with a unique method to looking at literature, hard-boiled fiction particularly, as a reflection of the historical period of its conception and prime.

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雷蒙‧錢德勒為冷硬派偵探小說的開山始祖之一，其文學地位卻不限於通俗小說大家。 其簡潔有力的文學筆觸及對於現代美國社會的深刻批判，讓他名列當代美國代表作家之列。 在錢德勒的筆觸下，洛杉磯城被深切刻畫成重要性不亞於偵探的重要主角。 故此，我在本論文將探討錢德勒對於洛杉磯身為美國現代大城的空間呈現，試圖找出其再現對於美國城市文學與偵探小說的積極影響。 在第二至第四章的本文中，第二章處理私家偵探與其出沒的洛杉磯之間的關係。 我發現漫遊者的概念也可被應用在冷硬派私家偵探的明查暗訪，這兩者在顯示現代城市的現代性方面，都是代表性的謀介。 透過漫遊者偵探的私家之眼，真實與想像的洛杉磯同時歷歷在目，而勒婓伏爾與索雅的空間理論為理解錢德勒筆下洛杉磯真實與想像的城市空間再現的一大利器。 故此，第三章運用索雅的第三空間概念來探討錢德勒的空間再現，發現其筆下墮落之城的種種暗黑角落，都是第三空間的再現，因為它們都顯現一種被宰制的空間呈現，別同於洛杉磯被大力推銷為夢想之城的想像空間。 第四章處理另一個被忽視但重要的第三空間。 藉由私家偵探親身探索洛杉磯城中不同族群的空間，我發現這些空間也是另一種第三空間的呈現，因為這些空間亦屬於被宰制壓迫的空間，而錢德勒對於洛杉磯城的空間再現並未遺忘這些他者族群被壓迫的空間，故此更能證明錢德勒不愧為刻畫現代化美國社會的文學大師。 / Raymond Chandler is a prestigious detective-story writer and the founding father of the hard-boiled detective fiction school, but he is not limited to this sub-genre of the crime fiction. His laconic style and the socially critical depiction of Los Angeles elevates him as a great writer in literature, high-brow and low-brow. Los Angeles city in his depiction becomes another protagonist of Chandler’s Philip Marlowe stories. In this thesis, I attempt to adopt a spatial reading of the Los Angeles city he depicts, so as to explore the meanings of the real and imagined spaces and their possibilities of resistance for future interpretations. Besides the first chapter as the introduction and the last chapter as the conclusion, in Chapter Two, I will first compare the private detective to the flâneur, thereby discovering the contribution of these figures to the discovery and representation of modernity in modern cities. Furthermore, I will utilize Lefebvre’s and Soja’s trialectics of spatiality to examine the real and imagined spaces in Chandler’s novels. By doing so, in Chapter Three I argue that Chandler’s vivid spatial representations of Los Angeles, especially the dark side of the city, are actually the real-and-imagined Thirdspace that represents the dominated spaces against the promotion of Los Angeles as a dream city. In Chapter Four, though Chandler’s spaces convincingly reflect the modernity of Los Angeles as a modern city, I further discover another possible site for the space of representation in his stories: the space of the racial Other. This discovery of another Thirdspace proves Chandler isn’t as much a racist as alleged, and it is the counter-space that provides the possibility of resistance for many future hard-boiled detective fiction writers of different ethnicities, and this can explain why Chandler’s hard-boiled detective has been massively appropriated.

Cette thèse porte sur l’étude comparée des œuvres de trois romanciers contemporains : Andreu Martín, Yasmina Khadra et Giorgio Todde. Si ces trois écrivains diffèrent par la nationalité, la langue et le style d’écriture, ils ont élu à un moment ou à un autre de leur carrière le roman policier et plus particulièrement le « noir » comme genre d’écriture. L’analyse de leur production policière de 1980 à 2010 tend à montrer les points de convergence et de divergence révélateurs d’une présupposée culture méditerranéenne. Entre Espagne, Algérie et Italie la Méditerranée s’impose comme espace géographique commun, mais également comme lieu de rencontre de différentes cultures. Les objectifs prioritaires ont été d’inscrire dans un cadre théorique les enjeux du roman policier face à la modernité et plus particulièrement les aspects significatifs à la vue des caractéristiques des trois auteurs comme la relation à l’Histoire, l’articulation entre individuel et collectif ou encore le rapport entre Histoire, mythe et vérité. Les particularités de chacun des trois romanciers et l’insertion de leur production dans le cadre géographique spécifique de leur pays d’origine constituent un axe de recherche majeur de la thèse. Pour ne pas restreindre le champ d’investigation il a été opéré une ouverture des perspectives : la Méditerranée comme espace géographique, historique et culturel en partage ; le concept d’insularité comme double condition, à la fois géographique et d’esprit ; ou encore le « noir méditerranéen » ont ainsi bénéficié d’un développement particulier. / This doctorial dissertation encompasses a comparative study of three contemporary authors: Andreu Martín, Yasmina Khadra and Giorgio Todde. Although the three writers differ in their nationality, language and writing style, they have all selected the detective novel and more particularly hardboiled fiction as their genre of choice. The body of this study focuses on the works created between 1980 and 2010. Through the analysis of these novels several revealing commonalities and differences have been discovered about a possible “Mediterranean culture”. Whether it be Spain, Algeria or Italy, the Mediterranean emerges then not only as a shared geographical space, but also as a meeting point between these diverse cultures. The principal objectives of this study are to place the specific tools and aspects of the detective novel within the theoretical domain of “modernity”, and an analysis of the significant articulations made by these three authors such as: their use of History, their representation of “the individual” versus “the collective”, and the relationship between History, myth, and truth in their novels. The particularities of all three novelists and the insertion of their literary production within the specific geographical environment of their country of origin constitute the focal point and principal axis of research of this dissertation. However, an open perspective has lead to the analysis of various concepts which particularly develop an understanding of that focal point. Among them the Mediterranean as a geographical, historical and cultural space shared by many; the concept of insularity as a double condition, as in a condition that is at the same time geographical and emotional; and the concept of a “Mediterranean hardboiled” fiction have revealed themselves as the most significant. / Questa tesi si basa sull’analisi comparata delle opere di tre scrittori contemporanei: Andreu Martín, Yasmina Khadra eGiorgio Todde. Sebbene questi tre romanzieri differiscano per nazionalità, lingua e stile di scrittura, si accomunanoper aver eletto ad un dato momento della loro carriera il romanzo poliziesco e più precisamente il “noir” come generedi scrittura. L’analisi della loro produzione poliziesca, dal 1980 al 2010, tende a dimostrare i punti di convergenza edivergenza rivelatori di una presupposta cultura mediterranea. Tra la Spagna, l’Algeria e l’Italia il Mediterraneos’impone come spazio geografico comune, così come luogo d’incontro di diverse culture. Gli obiettivi prioritari sonostati quelli di iscrivere in un quadro teorico i meccanismi del romanzo poliziesco, il suo rapportarsi alla modernità epiù precisamente gli elementi significativi che emergono dallo studio delle caratteristiche dei tre autori. Tra questi sievidenziano la relazione alla Storia, il rapporto tra l’individuale e il collettivo o ancora l’articolarsi tra Storia, mito everità. Le caratteristiche di ognuno dei tre autori e l’inserimento delle loro produzioni letterarie nello specifico quadrogeografico dei rispettivi paesi d’origine costituiscono un asse di ricerca della tesi. Per non limitare il campod’investigazione si è proceduto ad un ampliamento delle piste di ricerca: il Mediterraneo come spazio geografico,storico e culturale in comune; il concetto d’insularità come doppia condizione, geografica e d’animo e infine il “noirmediterraneo”.

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2010. / Title from screen (viewed on July 19, 2010). Department of English, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Robert Rebein, Jonathan Eller, William Touponce. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-86).

This thesis discusses contemporary Scottish crime fiction in light of its transatlantic contexts. It argues that, despite participating in a globalized popular genre, examples of Scottish crime fiction nevertheless meaningfully intervene in notions of Scottishness. The first chapter examines Scottish appropriations of the hard-boiled mode in the work of William McIlvanney, Ian Rankin, and Irvine Welsh, using their representation of traditional masculinity as an index for wider concerns about community, class, and violence. The second chapter examines examples of Scottish crime fiction that exploit the baroque aesthetics of gothic and noir fiction as a means of dealing with the same socio-political contexts. It argues that the work of Iain Banks and Louise Welsh draws upon a tradition of distinctively Scottish gothic in order to articulate concerns about the re-incursion of barbarism within contemporary civilized societies. The third chapter examines the parodic, carnivalesque aspects of contemporary Scottish crime fiction in the work of Christopher Brookmyre and Allan Guthrie. It argues that the structure of parody replicates the structure of genre, meaning that the parodic examples dramatize the textual processes at work in more central examples of Scottish crime fiction. The fourth chapter focuses on examples of Scottish crime fiction that participate in the culturally English golden-age and soft-boiled traditions. Unpacking the darker, more ambivalent aspects of these apparently cosy and genteel traditions, this final chapter argues that the novels of M. C. Beaton and Kate Atkinson obliquely refract the particularly Scottish concerns about modernity that the more central examples more openly express.