The Routledge Companion to Crime Fiction

Abstract

The Routledge Companion to Crime Fiction (2020), edited by Janice Allan, Jesper Gulddal, Stewart King, and Andrew Pepper, offers an encyclopaedic introduction to the field of crime fiction and crime fiction studies. What makes the collection particularly interesting and different from the plethora of handbooks and companions out there is the fact that rather than adopting a standalone retrospective orientation, the text is aligned in such a way that it also gives due diligence to the present and the future of crime fiction as a field of academic study. As a result, new developments in the area of crime fiction such as hybridization of forms (“Hybridization” by Heather Duerre Humann), proliferation and dependence on digital technologies and social media (“Digital Technology” by Nicole Kenley, “Crime Fiction and Digital Media” by Tanja Välisalo et al.), transnationality and global circulation (“Transnationality” by Barbara Pezzotti, “World Literature” by Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen, “Crime Fiction in the Marketplace” by Emmett Stinson) are given their fair share of prominence. The editors seem to have steered clear from the “historical survey” approach which dominates handbooks and companions; according to them, their approach is closest to what Foucault describes as “genealogy.” Foucault posits that “effective” history is written by tracing the “emergence of particular patterns and discontinuities as they develop in relation to the mess of overlapping and competing historical forces” (6).While most of the earlier books were seen to be privileging and propagating an Anglo-American perspective, The Routledge Companion to Crime Fiction shies away from reproducing an Anglophone affair. This is evident from the very selection of representative examples; the majority of chapters in the volume makes use of at least one text to demonstrate their key ideas and the examples are selected from a wide variety of sources. There are contributions from areas outside English literature and the examples are diverse, featuring texts from non-Anglophone literature as well. We even get to see texts featured in the book from countries like India where crime fiction is still in its early, developing phase and also works from several Scandinavian countries. The text also successfully portrays the ongoing shift in crime fiction studies by which more emphasis is given to individual texts rather than compartmentalizing them into genres and subgenres, and also the recent trend of treating the genre as a transnational, global phenomenon rather than studying it within the context of separate national identities. According to the editors, when these texts are taken out of their generic categorization and their national contexts at the same time, it gives a whole new dimension to the study of crime fiction.The text comprises forty-five chapters that are further divided into three sections: Approaches, Devices, and Interfaces. “Approaches” deals with the predominant theoretical concerns of crime fiction studies today. The first chapter of the companion entitled “Genre,” written by two of the editors, Jesper Gulddal and Stewart King, demonstrate the complexities in defining the crime genre and posits that instead of trying to define the genre, more emphasis should be placed on analyzing how it is utilized by its practitioners in the literary field. In “Crime Fiction in the Marketplace,” Emmett Stinson probes into the feasibility of an international market for crime fiction and analyses it within the context of the global book trade. The chapter further examines the pivotal influences behind the escalating sale figures of the genre in recent times and surveys the success of crime fiction in the largest national markets. Stinson makes use of Jane Harper’s The Dry (2016) to illustrate on how works travel across borders and attain international bestseller status. The book is also in the process of being adapted into a movie. Heather Duerre Humann’s “Hybridization” explores the concept of genre hybridity within the context of crime fiction. According to Humann, the hybridization of two or more forms in a genre like crime fiction reflects the postmodern tendency of blurring the boundaries between genres. As a result of this process, a new form of genre emerges that gives the writers more scope to indulge in discussions related to various sociopolitical issues.Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen elaborates on the ways in which a world literature approach can bring about a change to the study of crime fiction, which is otherwise monopolized by a nation-centered approach, in his chapter entitled “World Literature.” He makes use of Swedish writer Henning Mankell’s Den vita lejoninnan (1993) [The White Lioness, 1998] to demonstrate how a world literature approach is instrumental in reading texts across borders. In his view, even though the genre has always projected its global capabilities, studies on crime fiction have more or less been constrained to the Anglophone world and a world literature approach to reading crime fiction can create a paradigm shift in the way things currently stand. Barbara Pezzotti’s “Transnationality” expounds on the recent advancement of the transnational approach in crime fiction scholarship. She posits that “a transnational perspective is fundamental for an analysis of the past and the future of crime fiction” (94). Gill Plain explores certain critical deliberations on the discernment of gendered modes of detection, and the changing construction of gender and gender roles in the genre in her chapter entitled “Gender and Sexuality.” Plain also goes on to discuss the significance of the theme of desire to plot and character, and the way in which the detective emerges as a transgressive figure. Shampa Roy’s “Coloniality and Decoloniality” looks into how crime fiction from previously colonized nations undergo several adaptations in comparison to their western counterparts. The chapter explores decoloniality in crime fiction within the context of some previously colonized and postcolonial nations. Toward the end, it offers an overview of “ideologically resistant mutations of Eurocentric models of crime fiction within colonial Bengal in India” (120).The second part (Devices), like the name denotes, examines an array of literary devices that constitute the genre, thereby delving into the textual characteristics of the genre. Michael Harris-Peyton’s “Murders” discusses the relevance of murder as a trope in crime fiction and goes on to explore the reason behind murder being the most recurring crime in crime novels and how the trope or device of murder is useful to the genre. In “Detectives,” David Geherin studies the key developments in detection by analyzing the main three types of detectives: the amateur, the private eye, and the policeman. He uses the example of the character of Lisbeth Salander from Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005) to further illustrate the emergence of a new detective who is better equipped to decode the modern challenges in terms of solving crimes. The textual functions of clues and the theoretical discussions surrounding them are analyzed in detail in Jesper Gulddal’s “Clues.” The preeminent goal of Stewart King’s “Place” is to imbibe a more nuanced understanding of the role of place in individual works of crime fiction and also in the whole experience of reading works from the genre. Instead of presupposing place as a fixed, perceivable entity, King plays with the idea of unstable places through an analysis of Teresa Solana’s Un crim mperfect (2006) [A Not So Perfect Crime, 2008].The final part (Interfaces) explores how crime fiction function as a medium of representing a multitude of themes such as policing (“Crime Fiction and the Police” by Andrew Nestingen), war (“Crime Fiction and War” by Patrick Deer), narcotics (“Crime Fiction and Narcotics” by Andrew Pepper), the digital media (“Crime Fiction and Digital Media” by Tanja Välisalo et al.), and the environment (“Crime Fiction and the Environment” by Marta Puxan-Oliva). It looks into the connection between these texts and the issues concerning the modern world. Kate M. Quinn’s “Crime Fiction and Memory” explores memory and amnesia as recurring tropes in the genre of crime fiction, and the ways in which writers from Austria, France, and Chile make use of historical memory of the Holocaust in their writings. She also examines the concept of historical amnesia, a term that refers to the suppression or silencing of the history of state criminality. In “Crime Fiction and Digital Media,” Tanja Välisalo et al. deliberates on the genre’s engagement with the present digital media environment and posits that it is in terms of three spheres—production, interaction and engagement—that this novel form thrives. The final chapter of the companion is by Nicoletta Vallorani and is entitled “Crime Fiction and the Future.” Vallorani approaches the discussion based on two different but related perspectives. While the first studies the genre’s development in comparison to the alterations in culture and society, the second examines the relationship and resemblance that has developed over the years between crime fiction and science fiction. Instead of incorporating chapters focusing on individual national crime fiction in isolation, the text adopts a transnational framework taking into account the connections between these writings from different countries. It puts special emphasis on the global and globalizing attribute of crime fiction that has been its defining characteristic from the days of its inception. The book will be of interest to scholars of crime fiction as well as to anyone who is interested in the genre.