What is a detective story in literature? Characteristics and features of the detective genre

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Books - this unique world filled with mystery and magic that attracts each of us. We all prefer different genres: historical novels, fantasy, mysticism.

In a good detective story, a man holds a severed head in his hand…

However, one of the most revered and undoubtedly interesting genres is the detective story. A talentedly written work in the detective genre allows the reader to independently add up a logical chain of events and figure out the criminal. Which, of course, requires mental effort. Incredibly interesting and captivating reading!

So, what is a detective story in literature and how does it differ from other genres?

Writing a book in the detective genre requires a lot of effort from the author. The plot requires careful thought and does not tolerate inconsistencies in the narrative. A logically constructed chain of events and hints, a violent confrontation between the positive and negative characters, the tension that the book is saturated with … These factors make the detective story one of the favorite genres of many book lovers.

What is a detective?

Detective is a literary work or movie that tells about the adventures of a detective. There is always a mystery at the heart of a detective, which is revealed by the end of the story.

Origin of the term

What is a "detective"? The definition appeared along with the first detective stories that came out in the 19th century. The term comes from the Latin word detectio - "to reveal", "to discover". Has two meanings: the first - denotes a detective story as a genre, the second - a person who is investigating, a detective.

The term was borrowed from English in the 19th century.

The first detective in history

The ancestor of the classic detective is Agatha Christie with her Miss Marple, but in fact it is not. The classic detective story was first written in the 40s of the 19th century by the popular writer Edgar Allan Poe. All three of his stories - "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Secret of Marie Roger" and "The Stolen Letter" - are still considered classics, the motives of which the authors follow to this day.

There is a crime - there is a detective story

No less than Edgar Poe stories in the detective genre became famous Anna Catherine Green. As the daughter of a lawyer,she was able not only to invent fascinating stories, but also described the investigation process as accurately as possible. Her first work, The Leavenworth Case, became a bestseller. In the Pennsylvania State Senate, Anna's authorship was questioned: could a woman write such a realistic detective story?

However, even before the 19th century, there were separate motifs of the detective genre in literature. Probably, the detective element arose simultaneously with the appearance of the first laws and their violations. It can be found even in ancient literature. But the first attempt to write a full-fledged detective story was made by William Godwin in the 15th century, who described the adventures of an enthusiastic lover of secrets.

Later, the anarchist philosopher W. Godwin described an amateur detective in his novel Caleb Williams (1974). A considerable share in the development of the detective genre was made by the memoirs of E. Vidocq. We will take a closer look at his fascinating biography below.

The famous Sam Spade of Dashiell Hammett is a typical noir detective. It was he who became one of the founders of this direction, which later gave the audience a chain of series about Colombo. What is a noir detective? This is an inhabitant of a narrow detective genre, which has its own distinctive features. Usually this is an ironic, middle-aged detective, disappointed in everything in the world. Often wears a cloak and hat, like the famous Colombo.

When discussing what a detective is in literature, one cannot fail to mention the most famous detective in literature - Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur ConanDoyle. Until now, the authors of detective stories are trying to distance their characters from the ideal image of Holmes as much as possible.

Features of the detective genre

What is a detective story as an art genre and what features does it differ in? Its elements are recognizable immediately, from the first pages of the story.

1. The author expresses his thoughts clearly and pays more attention to the environment than to the characters themselves. Detective stories are sometimes written somewhat dryly and restrainedly, which is not observed in works of other literary genres. The exceptions are women's detective novels, which have a lot of emotion and humor. This is explained by the fact that the main task of the detective is to investigate the main secret, the logical comparison of facts.
2. The author describes an everyday environment. The reader confidently navigates the events of the narrative and knows all the characters that appear in the story. However, there are exceptions when the only character not mentioned is the criminal. He appears at the end of the story, during the investigation of the crime he committed.
3. There is almost always a crime in a detective story. The author actively involves the reader in the process of his investigation. He knows all the facts that allow him to put together the puzzle of events on his own. Of course, not all authors provide such an opportunity, sometimes it is impossible to guess the identity of the criminal until the last pages of the book.
4. Logic. The logical chain that the author has built is not broken by any extraneous events. All points described inbook, are related to the investigation and are not mentioned just like that.

In addition, there is a certain "set" of characters in the detective story.

Typical characters in a literary detective story

The author writes a detective story for the detective. In other words, the criminal adjusts his bloody activities to the detective who is investigating the crime. However, it should be noted that not all subgenres of the detective novel have a crime. For example, five of the eighteen Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle did not contain crime. However, the fact of investigating the mystery has been preserved.

The detective is often a police officer, private detective, or amateur. The latter is especially loved by readers, since his image is close and understandable to them. Reading such a detective story, the reader is sure that if he had been in the place of the detective, he would have acted in the same way. An amateur detective is often found in an adventurous detective story. What is a detective in the adventure genre? This is an adventure novel with a detective line in the spirit of Dashiell Hammett. Such novels abound in events, this is a world of exoticism and heroism, secrets and adventures.

The criminal often appears in the novel. He may be under the guise of a suspect, a witness, or even a victim. He opposes the investigation in every possible way, covering his tracks. Often the author introduces the reader to the criminal, but in such a way that he does not guess about his identity. After all, it is the intrigue, who is actually the main villain, in 90% of cases that makes the reader read the novel toend.

And, of course, the victim, who often turns out to be a criminal himself in a classic detective story.

In addition, in the novel you can meet an assistant detective, a witness and other minor characters.

The most famous detective in history

In the literary genre, the most famous detectives are: Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Auguste Dupin. However, in real life there were famous detectives who left their mark on history. Among them are Alan Pinkerton and Eugene Francois Vidocq.

The latter is famous for an incredibly turbulent biography. At the age of 14, in a fencing lesson, he killed his teacher, and although this was a fatal accident, Eugene decided to flee to America. However, he was drafted into the army. Soon he deserted and fell into bad company. Eugene robbed and killed as part of a gang, was repeatedly caught by the police, but ran away each time, for which he was nicknamed the King of Risk in the underworld.

A year later, Eugene realized that this life was not for him, he himself went to the police and offered his services in catching criminals. He argued that only a criminal can understand a criminal. Eugene really managed to unravel even the most complex criminal cases. He became the prototype of many detectives of the literary genre.