Of Heroes and Polemics: “The Policeman” in Urban Ethnography

Abstract

Cities have long been characterized as lonely, alienating places in literature and the social sciences. This article tracks the theme of urban alienation through both detective fiction and urban ethnography, demonstrating that these literatures also share a focus on two key figures: the Hero and the Policeman. Within an important variant of the genre, the Policeman performs a crucial role, becoming the mechanism through which alienation is enforced. In this regard the Policeman stands in contrast to the Hero, battling over the very soul of modernity. On the other hand, there is a variant of the genre of police fiction which is known as noir. Within this genre, the ethical stakes are configured somewhat differently. I will argue that this is the location in which we find the potential for reconceptualizing anthropology's ethical stakes vis‐à‐vis questions of power and violence in the contemporary world.