Art of Treason: Literary Double Agents and the Art World

Abstract

This article seeks to examine the double agent from a literary perspective, focusing on how two spy novels set during the Cold War era—Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974) by John le Carré and The Untouchable (1997) by John Banville—associate the double agent with the world of art. In spy novels set during the Cold War era, using the art world as a setting can provide a divided sense of self and the double agent’s struggle toward inner completeness. Ultimately, this struggle ends in failure.