These topics are intended to facilitate our discussions and, possibly, to spur ideas for writing your contact papers. Please consider them while you read, and be prepared to discuss them in section.

Discussion Topics 2 - April 21

Film -Pulp Fiction - Focus on the film’s relation to detective fiction, and the criticism we have been reading. How does it fit into detective fiction? Does it? Would Todorov and Alewyn place it in different locations? How does the temporal structure of the film function? How is the title and epigram related to detective fiction? The language? References to popular culture? What is Vincent Vega reading at his death? Where is suspense and curiosity employed in the film? Are these interests satisfied? Do our characters fit any of Eco’s categories? Are they aware of their characterization? Does this self-referential quality change to story? How is violence and drug use presented? What is the film’s milieu? Where is its humor? Is there a detective?

“The Typology of Detective Fiction” by Tzvetan Todorov - How does Todorov define genre? How is a genre created? How does genre function in the category of detective fiction? What are the three sub-categories he postulates? How do whodunits, thrillers, and suspense novels differ? What are the two further divisions in the suspense novel? Think of examples for each. Where do our stories and films fall? What roles do curiosity and suspense play in each of the three categories? What are the first and second stories? How are they related temporally? What is the difference between action and learning? Personal and professional crime? Where is milieu important? What kind of milieu? How does the character of the detective change across the sub-categories? The role of love? What are the 20 rules? To what end does Todorov present them? What rules do our stories and films follow or break?

“The Origin of the Detective Novel” by Richard Alewyn - How does Alewyn define the detective novel? In what ways is this different from Todorov’s definition? Where does this leave Pulp Fiction? What are the common reasons given for the popularity of detective novels? What are the psychological and political viewpoints? How does Alewyn debate these reasons? How is the detective different from the average citizen and the official powers like the police? Does this square with the stories we have read and films we have watched? What role do “naked facts” play in the detective novel? What popular assumptions about the origins of the detective novel does Alewyn attempt to debunk? Where does he place the origin of the detective novel? What is Romanticism? Who are artists? What does this mean for the philosophies and values behind the novel?

“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe - What is the purpose of the long discussion of games at the beginning of the story? What different kinds of minds does this illustrate? What kind of man is Dupin? What makes him characteristic of “the detective”? How is the narrator different? How do they live? Why? What is the purpose of Dupin’s explanation of his powers of deduction or observation on the topic of Chantilly? Do the newspaper “clues” give the reader a chance to practice detection? Why does Dupin get involved in the murder case? How is his motivation like Bond’s? What do the police do wrong? What is the only situation Dupin rules out? What detective fiction conventions are used? Is there a first and second story? Where would/do Alewyn and Todorov place the story? Which of Van Dine’s rules (from Todorov’s article) does the story break?

“The Purloined Letter” by Edgar Allan Poe (optional) - What do the police do wrong? Why is art important? Simplicity? Notice another description of games. How does Dupin solve the case? How is the Minister like a detective? What is Dupin’s motivation for getting involved? Is it monetary or personal?