- What is the detective novel?
- Characteristics of the detective novel
- Structure of the detective novel
- Authors of detective novels
- Detective novel works
We explain what the detective novel is, its structure, history and other characteristics. Also, important authors and works.
What is the detective novel?
The detective, police, criminal or detective novel is a subgenre of the novel, that is, a specific type of literary narrative, which is characterized by telling stories about crimes and crimes, generally carried out by the detective or the policeman in charge of solving them.
Broadly speaking, the detective novel is built around an enigma, hidden from the reader and the detective at the same time, which will gradually unfold as the story unfolds. In the end, detective and reader will know the ins and outs of the crime and they will know who the culprit is.
East narrative genre is one of the most popular today, especially in the literature commercial or Best-seller, as well as in comic books Y pulp, and even films and television series.
Its origins date back to 1840, although with ancient precursors in Greek, Hebrew and similar literature. However, it was considered from the beginning a "low" or not very aesthetic type of literature, since crime was considered a vulgar subject at the time.
The first police officers to be published were texts also belonging to other narrative styles, such as the gothic novel (As the Frankenstein by Mary Shelley), or the horror novel, where chilling crimes were given as a starting point.
The actual birth of the genre, however, is a consequence of the work of the American Edgar Allan Poe, in particular his stories "The crimes of the Rue Morgue", "The mystery of Marie Rogêt" (1842-43), "The stolen letter" and "The gold scarab".
Subsequently, the genre expanded and cultivated, giving birth to subgenres such as the black police, and dividing into three different world currents:
- English. It is a more traditional current, which includes stories related to the upper social strata.
- American. It is called hard-boiled or slum, especially in the stories inserted in the context of the Great Depression.
- Spanish. It tends to have a more political tinge.
Characteristics of the detective novel
Police literature is characterized by:
- Tell crime stories: murders, robberies, etc. whose resolution is always in the hands of a policeman, detective, investigator or journalist, who usually stars in the novel.
- Their narrations they advance as clues emerge surrounding the resolution of the crime, and in the end the mystery is always revealed. Usually this requires the deductive talents or the sagacity of the investigator.
- It is told in the first or third person, usually from the point of view of the witness.
- On the traditional side, the laws and the social order; On the black side, on the other hand, the detective may in turn commit certain crimes, since there is a certain relaxation of the ethical values.
- More or less cynical visions are elaborated or nihilists of the society, depending on the value of order and law within the story.
Structure of the detective novel
Like the rest of the novels that exist, the structure of the police officers can be very diverse depending on the preferences of the writer, the anecdote told and the lives of the police officers. characters. However, the vast majority respond to the classic Aristotelian division of the story:
- Beginning. Where the details of the crime are given, it is told how it was discovered or how the crime detective came to know, that is, the initial situation that involves him in the story is presented.
- Complication. The development of the detective investigation, with the adventures that the detective will find along the way as he gathers clues to discover the criminal.
- Outcome. The revelation of the crime and / or the criminal, thanks to the cunning or intelligence of the detective.
Authors of detective novels
Some of the main authors of the detective novel were:
- Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). Although the bulk of his work was made up of stories and not novels, in them the figure of the detective was very present (Auguste Dupin). Poe was a key author for 19th century world literature and laid the foundation for the emergence of this specific genre.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930). Scottish writer and physician, author of various accounts of Science fiction and of detective novels, especially those carried out by its main character, the English detective Sherlock Holmes. The latter is perhaps the most famous detective in all Western literature.
- Agatha Christie (1890-1976). British writer and playwright whose work focused on the police officer, by the hand of her most famous character, Detective Hercule Poirot. Throughout her career, she published 66 crime novels, which along with the rest of her work have made her the best-selling author of all time, according to the Guinness Records.
- Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961). American writer of crime novels (black police), short stories and film scripts, he wrote under various pseudonyms a fundamental work in the genre, whose best-known detectives are Sam Spade and the couple Nick and Nora Charles.
- Raymond Chandler (1888-1959). The great American author of the crime novel, who attributed to the genre a dignity and a literary prestige that it initially lacked. His work is vast and much of it has been taken to movie theater, in addition to the fact that his name accompanies the most prestigious award for crime novel awarded today, at the European Noir In Festival.
Detective novel works
Some of the best known works of the detective novel are:
- The Mysterious Affair of Styles , Death in Mesopotamia , Death on the nile Y Rendezvous with death by Agatha Christie.
- Study in Scarlet , The sign of the four Y The baskerville's hound , novels by Arthur Connan Doyle starring Sherlock Holmes.
- Red harvest , The Maltese Falcon Y The slender man by Dashiell Hammett.
- The eternal dream , Bye doll Y The long goodbye by Raymond Chandler.