COSEM-UA 125 - The Mysteries of Paris: Detective Fiction in France

Institution:

New York University

Subject:

Description:

While critics debate the origins of detective fiction, no one questions the central place this literary genre holds in contemporary arts production-not only in novels but also in television, computer games, and film. In France alone, detective (or mystery) fiction accounts for 20 percent of all novels purchased during the year. The French, in fact, have inflected the genre in very particular ways: For example, thanks to the fascination of the great 19th-century writers Balzac and Hugo with the real-life police detective Vidocq, the "ambiguous and obsessed" fictional investigator has become a staple of both French and American detective fiction. The Franco-American connection also inspired author Edgar Allan Poe to situate his mysteries on Paris's Rue Morgue. In turn, his stories prompted a major output of detective fiction during France's Second Empire, many located in the "City of Lights." From Gaston Leroux's and Eugène Sue's urban thrillers of the late 19th century to Daniel Pennac's hilarious multi-cultural adventures in Belleville, the hippest neighborhood of the 21st century, Paris has thus become a site to be decoded and observed, the crucible for questions basic to detective fiction the world over: Why do people commit crimes? What are the consequences for the individual and for society? What is the nature of evil? And what kind of human being dedicates himself or herself to finding out the answers? In this seminar, we analyze what constitutes a detective or mystery novel (and discuss the potential differences between "detective" and "mystery"), trace the development of the genre in France, and examine why it is that reading such works is so compelling. We focus primarily on novels in which Paris plays a major role, studying how the city has been used to give shape to the underlying questions of the novel. We see, perhaps unsurprisingly, that French-language detective fiction has been as involved in imagining a mysterious Paris as in solving Paris's mysteries.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nyu.edu

Phone Number:

(212) 998-1212

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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