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Summer Session One 2007(May
14 - June 25)
(There are no upper division courses in
Summer Session Two this year.)
English 180: American Detective Fiction
Professor Donald McCrary
Summer Session One 2007: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1-4:40
pm
According to critic Brian McHale, the detective novel, in
its search for truth and certainty, is the quintessential
modernist fiction. Even in our so-called postmodern society,
detective fiction is wildly popular, as evidenced by the proliferation
of detective novels that address unique perspectives of gender,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, and, yes, postmodernism. While
the roots of American detective fiction are widely debated,
with critics locating diverse sources from classical literature
to Edgar Allen Poe, it is indisputable that American writers
created a unique type of detective fiction, influencing everything
from French cinema to modern constructions of masculinity.
In this course, we will analyze psychological, philosophical,
epistemological, social, and cultural ideas and themes within
American detective fiction, as we attempt to answer this framing
question: What does American detective fiction have to tell
us about ourselves and the world in which we live? Writers
we will read include Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John
M. Cain, Walter Mosley, Sara Peretsky, Barbara Neely, and
RD Zimmerman.
Students will read at least one fiction novel each week,
in addition to critical essays about the novels. Students
will write journal entries for all the readings and produce
two critical essays, each at least six pages in length.
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