What are the features of detective literature? Detective in Russia and the USSR

Georginova N. Yu. Detective genre: reasons for popularity / N. Yu. Georginova // Scientific dialogue. - 2013. - No. 5 (17): Philology. - pp. 173-186.

UDC 82-312.4+82-1/-9+821.161.1’06

Detective genre: reasons for popularity

N. Yu. Georginova

Review offered existing opinions regarding the place occupied by the detective story in literature and culture as a whole. Based on an analysis of the points of view of specialists involved in understanding genre originality such works, the problem of identifying the reasons for the popularity of detective stories among readers is solved. In addition, it is noted that interest in the study of the detective genre in the scientific community of literary scholars and linguists is not only not weakening, but also increasing.

Key words: detective; genre; popularity.

During development literary thought There is a constant reassessment of values, a change in methods and techniques for organizing works of art. In other words, there is a continuous process of enrichment through constant changes and modifications. Literary genres, being necessary components of literature, are also subject to change and revaluation. A striking example of this is the history of the development of the detective genre. Throughout the history of its formation, the detective genre has raised a lot of questions and debates among literary scholars. In particular, the question of the place occupied by the detective story in literature and culture as a whole remains ambiguous.

In the afterword to the collection “How to Make a Detective,” G. Andzhaparidze concludes that “the detective story occupies its own place in culture and nothing else has any chance of replacing it.”

place" [Andzhaparidze, 1990, p. 280]. In other words, the detective is full-fledged and full-fledged in the world literary process. Proof of this is this collection, which includes works by such authors as A. Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, D. Hemmet, R. O. Freeman, S. S. Van Dyne, D. Sayers, R. Knox , M. Leblanc, C. Aveline, D. D. Carr, F. Glauser, E. S. Gardner, M. Allen, S. Maugham, R. Stout, E. Quinn, R. Chandler, J. Simenon, Boileau -Narsezhak, A. Christie, H. L. Borges, G. Andjaparidze.

Thus, the English thinker and writer, author of a number of detective stories, Gilbert K. Chesterton, in the essay “In Defense of Detective Literature” writes: “Not only is a detective novel or story completely legal literary genre, it also has very definite and real advantages as an instrument of the common good” [Chesterton, 1990, p. 16]. Moreover, the author insists that the appearance of the detective story is a natural historical move that meets the social and cultural needs of people: “Sooner or later, rough, popular literature should have appeared, revealing the romantic possibilities of the modern city. And it arose in the form of popular detective stories, as rough and blood-hot as the ballads of Robin Hood" [Chesterton, 1990, p. 18]. Argentine novelist, poet and publicist Jorge Louis Borges also emphasizes the need to distinguish the detective story as a separate genre: “In defense of the detective genre, I would say that it does not need protection: read today with a sense of superiority, it preserves order in an era of disorder. Such fidelity to the model is worthy of praise, and well deserved” [Borges, 1990, p. 271-272].

We also find defensive speech in R. Chandler: “It is hardly necessary to prove that the detective story is an important and viable form of art” [Chandler, 1990, p. 165].

In R. O. Freeman we find: “There is no genre more popular than the detective story... After all, it is quite obvious that a genre that has attracted the attention of people of culture and intellect cannot contain anything inherently bad” [Freeman, 1990, p. 29]. The fact that the detective

tive literature has been repeatedly opposed to genuine literature as “something unworthy,” which is explained by literary scholars by the existence, along with the real geniuses of their genre, of unscrupulous authors. According to R. O. Freeman, “a detective story, capable of fully embodying all the characteristic properties of the genre, while remaining a work of good language, with a skillfully recreated background and interesting characters, corresponding to the strictest literary canons, remains perhaps the most a rare phenomenon in fiction" [Freeman, 1990, p. 29]. We find a similar thought in R. Chanler: “Nevertheless, a detective story - even in its most traditional form is extremely difficult to write... A good detective writer (it’s impossible that we don’t have them) is forced to compete not only with all the unburied dead, but also with legions of their living colleagues" [Chandler, 1990, p. 166]. The author accurately defines the complexity of writing a good detective story: “It seems to me that the main difficulty that arises in front of a traditional, or classical, or detective novel based on logic and analysis is that to achieve even relative perfection it requires qualities that are rarely collectively present in one person. The imperturbable logic-designer usually does not produce lively characters, his dialogues are boring, there is no plot dynamics, and there are absolutely no bright, precisely seen details. A rationalist pedant is as emotional as a drawing board. His scientist detective works in a shiny new laboratory, but it is impossible to remember the faces of his heroes. Well, a person who knows how to write dashing, bright prose will never undertake the hard labor of composing an iron-clad alibi” [Chandler, 1990, p. 167].

According to S. Eisenstein, the detective story has always attracted the reader “because it is the most effective genre of literature. You can't tear yourself away from him. It is constructed using such means and techniques that maximally rivet a person into reading. Detective

The most powerful remedy, the most purified, sharpened structure in a number of other literatures. This is the genre where the average

properties of influence are exposed to the limit" [Eisenstein, 1968, p. 107]. The detective story is distinguished as an independent literary genre based on its unique features. Thus, A. Vulis notes: “Detective is a genre. But this is also a topic. More precisely, a combination of both. The genre itself contains such a clear event program that we know in advance some of the main episodes of a work that has not yet been read” [Vulis, 1978, p. 246].

Thus, the detective has a special place in literature due to the presence of compositional forms, concepts of characters, forms of influence, and even thanks to the presence of its reader. “There is such a type of modern reader - a lover of detective stories. This reader - and he has proliferated all over the world, and he can be counted in the millions - was created by Edgar Allan Poe,” we meet in Jorge Louis Borges [Borges, 1990, p. 264]. Who is the detective addressed to? “Genuine connoisseurs of the genre, who strongly prefer it to all others, who read detective stories meticulously and carefully, are mainly representatives of intellectual circles: theologians, humanities scholars, lawyers, and also, perhaps to a lesser extent, doctors and representatives of the exact sciences,” - Freeman concludes [Freeman, 1990, p. 32].

The interest of scientists - representatives of the scientific community - in reading detective literature is explained by the similarity of methods and techniques used in detective fiction and science. Thus, B. Brecht believes: “The scheme of a good detective novel resembles the method of work of our physicists: first, certain facts are written down, working hypotheses are put forward that could correspond to the facts. The addition of new facts and the rejection of known facts forces us to look for a new working hypothesis. Then the working hypothesis is tested: an experiment. If it is correct, the killer must appear somewhere as a result of the measures taken” [Brecht, 1988, p. 281]. “In general,” notes V.V. Melnik, “the process of creative thinking in science and detective fiction proceeds according to the same scenario even after overcoming cognitive and psychological barriers.”

the ditch ends with the comprehension of a paradoxical truth-discovery" [Melnik, 1992, p. 5]. This “invasion of science into literature” that occurs in a detective story makes it possible for the coexistence of two forms of thinking - artistic and conceptual-logical. The first, as we remember, operates with images, the second with concepts. Besides, art form detective story is ideally suited for the active assimilation of scientific knowledge by the reader at the level of his own “discoveries” due to the fact that detective scheme, as noted by a passionate admirer of the detective genre, S. M. Eisenstein, “reproduces the historical path of human consciousness from pre-logical, figurative-sensual thinking to logical and further to their synthesis, dialectical thinking” [Eisenstein, 1980, p. 133]. These views are shared by N. N. Volsky: “I assume that the detective gives the reader rare opportunity to take advantage of your abilities for dialectical thinking, to put into practice (albeit in artificial conditions of intellectual fun) that part of your spiritual potential, which Hegel calls “speculative reason” and which, being inherent in every reasonable person, finds almost no application in our everyday life.” [Volsky, 2006, p. 6].

Thus, reading detective literature is correlated with the process of personality formation, progressively moving from the stage of sensory-imaginative thinking to the maturity of consciousness and the synthesis of both in the most perfect examples inner life creative personalities.

N. Ilyina, analyzing the features and reasons for the popularity of the detective genre, comes to the conclusion that the detective story is literature and a game. We are talking about a game that is “useful, develops observation, intelligence, and develops in the participant of the game the ability to think analytically and understand strategy” [Ilyina, 1989, p. 320]. In her opinion, literature in the detective genre is “the ability to build a plot without sacrificing persuasiveness for the sake of the game, clearly defined characters, lively dialogues and, of course, a reflection of life” [Ilyina, 1989, p. 328]

Julian Simons speaks about several other reasons that force the reader to turn to the detective genre. Exploring psychoanalytic connections, the author cites an article by Charles Rycroft in Psychology Quarterly for 1957, which continues the hypothesis of J. Pedersen-Krogg, according to which the peculiarities of perception of a detective are determined by impressions and fears from early childhood. The detective reader, according to Pedersen-Krogg, satisfies childhood curiosity by turning into an “investigator,” and thus “fully compensates for the helplessness, fear and guilt that have existed in the subconscious since childhood” [Simons, 1990, p. 230]. Julian Symons gives another version, proposed by W. H. Auden, which has a religious overtones: “Detectives have a magical property of alleviating our feelings of guilt. We live obeying and, in fact, fully accepting the dictates of the law. We turn to a detective story in which a person whose guilt was considered beyond doubt turns out to be innocent, and the real criminal is one who was completely above suspicion, and we find in it a way to escape from everyday life and return to an imaginary world of sinlessness, where “we can know love.” as love, and not as a punitive law” [Simons, 1990, p. 231-232].

In addition, the author proposes to develop the ideas of Auden and Fuller, “linking the pleasure we get from reading detective stories with the custom of primitive peoples“, according to which the tribe achieves purification by transferring its sins and misfortunes to any specific animal or person,” and connects the reasons for the detective’s decline precisely with “a weakening of the sense of sin”: “Where the awareness of one’s sinfulness in the religious sense of the word does not exist, the detective, as an exorcist, has nothing to do” [Simons, 1990, p. 233].

Interest in reading detective literature is associated with his ability to embody the “path of movement from darkness to light.” This means, first of all, solving a crime, solving a mystery. Edgar Allan Poe believed that the artistic joy and usefulness of the detective story lie precisely in this gradual movement from darkness to light, from

confusion to clarity. S. M. Eisenstein speaks of the situation of “coming into the light of God.” Moreover, a situation is understood as a case through which the attacker managed to escape from an impossible situation. And the detective brings the truth to the light of God, “for every detective boils down to the fact that from the “labyrinth” of errors, false interpretations and dead ends, finally, “the true picture of the crime” is brought “to the light of God” [Eisenstein, 1997, p. 100]. In this case, the detective, according to the author, appeals to the myth of the Minotaur and the primary complexes associated with it.

Thus, the detective story takes its rightful place in literature. “Over the past ten years, significantly more detective novels have appeared in Russia than in the previous period,” notes the journalist and literary translator G. A. Tolstyakov. “The change in censorship policy gave literary space and made it possible to expand the range of translated and published authors, perhaps the most widely read genre of popular literature” [Tolstyakov, 2000, p. 73].

Attempts to comprehend the role and significance of the detective genre are inseparable from the search for the reasons for its wide recognition. The undying popularity of this genre is explained by a number of reasons that force the reader to turn to the detective story again and again: the need to compensate for helplessness, to overcome fears, to alleviate feelings of guilt, to experience a feeling of cleansing from one’s sinfulness, in emotions; interest in play and competition, response to challenges to intellectual abilities; the need to read and observe curious characters; the desire to discern romance in everyday city life; desire to participate in intellectual game, guessing the event program, applying your abilities to dialectical thinking, solving the mystery. As you can see, we are talking about needs of two types: psychological and socio-cultural (Fig. 1). Note that the distinction between types is conditional, since upon closer examination almost all needs are of a psychological nature.

Rice. 1. Readers’ needs as the reasons for the popularity of the detective genre

The popularity of the detective genre is a growing interest from readers, constant attention literary scholars and practitioners approached it - led to the appearance of an increasing number of linguistic works devoted to its study. The subject of attention is the cognitive, pragmatic, discursive and other parameters of a detective text [Vatolina, 2011; Dudina, 2008; Kryukova, 2012; Leskov, 2005; Merkulova, 2012; Teplykh, 2007, etc.]. Necessity scientific research in this area is dictated

anthropocentric paradigm relevant in modern literary criticism and linguistics. The attention of scientists who recognize that it is important to take into account the human factor in language is drawn to the study of the cognitive structures of human consciousness involved in the representation, acquisition and processing of knowledge about the world, contained, in particular, in a literary text. Language is understood as a way of representing human knowledge about the world.

T. G. Vatolina devotes her research to the cognitive analysis of English-language detective works. Projecting the concept of “discourse” onto a detective text, the author proceeds from the interpretation of discourse in the cognitive aspect as a “special mentality” [Stepanov, 1995, p. 38] and in the communicative aspect as “a message - continuously renewed or complete, fragmented or integral, oral or written, sent and received in the process of communication” [Plotnikova, 2011, p. 7]. T. G. Vatolina proves that every detective work is created according to a standard cognitive model, the same for all detectives. The general cognitive model of detective discourse is, at the internal deep level, “a complete integral construct consisting of interconnected fragments.”

Cognitive contours" [Vatolina, 2011, p. 20]. To describe the cognitive model of a detective, the author uses the technique of assigning generalized metanominations to characters, which was developed by Y. Kristeva when conducting structural analysis literary text [Kristeva, 2004]. The deepest contour of the cognitive model of detective discourse is formed, according to the author, by five characters: detective, killer, witness, assistant, victim. Deepening the cognitive model of the detective, the author derives, based on speech act analysis, a separate human quality each character, abstracted and elevated to the level of a concept. Thus, the basic concept of speech acts of the Detective is the concept “Truth”, for the Murderer - “Lie”, for the Witness, Helper and Victim - the concept “Misunderstanding”. In addition, using the concept of “conceptual standard of the genre”, introduced

put into scientific use by S. N. Plotnikova and understood as a deep cognitive genre-forming basis, an invariant concept, compliance with which is mandatory for assigning a text to any genre, T. G. Vatolina defines the conceptual system of the detective story: “Murder” - “Investigation” -"Explanation".

I. A. Dudina devotes her research to the study of detective discourse in the light of the cognitive-communicative-pragmatic approach. Based on the detective works of English and American writers it reveals the status characteristics of detective discourse among other artistic discourses, derives elements and designates models on the basis of which the discursive space of a detective text is formed. The author distinguishes between the concepts of “detective text” as “a linguistic formation that has a certain structure and is characterized by coherence and integrity” and “detective discourse” as “the scheme “writer - artistic investigation - reader”

Entertainment”, thereby pointing to the functional, dynamic nature of discourse, where text is an element of communication connecting the author and the reader [Dudina, 2008, p. 10]. The proposed approach to the interpretation of a literary text is based on the thesis that the human mind stores samples, mental models, i.e., specially structured knowledge representation systems that form the basis of our linguistic ability and speech behavior. The author identifies two cognitive models of detective discourse in the form of the structure of an object-referential situation and the structure of a procedural situation. The subject-referential situation in detective discourse is “a clear event program” that the author of a detective text plans according to certain rules of the detective genre. A procedural situation is “a situation in which the author of a detective text influences the reader, resorting to a certain tone, the nature of the narrative, which evokes a corresponding emotional mood in the reader in response” [Dudina, 2008, p. 12].

L. S. Kryukova explores the plot perspective in stories of the detective genre. The plot perspective is understood by the author as “a unit of structural organization of the text of the detective genre in revealing the intrigue embedded by the writer in the code-schematic content of the plot” [Kryukova, 2012, p. 3]. The distinctive features of the plot perspective of the detective genre are revealed, the nature of the refraction of the plot perspective in four types of speech situations (microthematic, thematic, macrothematic and textological) is described.

D. A. Shigonov analyzes the recurrent center as a coding unit of the text using the material of English detective stories. The recurrent center is understood as “a unit of text that represents a repetition of a thought that violates the linear presentation of the content to update what was previously stated,” as a result of which it acts as “a mechanism on the basis of which the connection between distant parts of the text that have a common semantic basis is carried out” [Shigonov, 2005, p. . 5]. Thus, in the text of a detective work, a coding structure, represented by a recurrent center, and a decoding structure are distinguished. The recurrent center contains the mystery of a detective work, explicated through distantly located segments of text that have a common semantic content. Recurrent centers are closely related to the plot perspective: “The plot perspective in the text of a detective work forms the content through an inconsistent connection of unfolding events” and “acts precisely as a way of integrating the work, which is based on distantly located recurrent centers” [Shigonov, 2005, p. eleven].

Please note that all this work recent years. Thus, the detective genre is increasingly becoming the subject of research by literary scholars, linguists, theorists and practitioners of the genre. Unabated scientific interest in genre features These texts are largely a consequence of the undiminished popularity of detective stories among the modern readership.

Literature

1. Andzhaparidze G. The cruelty of the canon and eternal novelty / G. Andzhaparidze // How to make a detective story / trans. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 279-292.

2. Borges X. L. Detective / L. H. Borges // How to make a detective / trans. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 236-272.

3. Brecht B. On literature: collection: translation from German / B. Brecht; comp., trans. and note. E. Katseva; entry Art. E. Knipovich. - 2nd edition, expanded. - Moscow: Fiction, 1988. - 524 p.

4. Vatolina T. G. Cognitive model of detective discourse: based on the material of English-language detective works of the 18-20 centuries. : abstract of the dissertation... candidate of philological sciences / T. G. Vatolina. - Irkutsk, 2011. - 22 p.

5. Volsky N.N. Easy reading: works on the theory and history of the detective genre / N.N. Volsky; Federal agency by education, State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education “Novosibirsk State. Pedagogical University. - Novosibirsk: [b. i.], 2006. - 277 p.

6. Vulis A. Poetics of the detective / A. Vulis // New world. - No. 1. - 1978. -S. 244-258.

7. Dudina I. A. Discursive space of a detective text: based on the material of English-language fiction of the 19-20 centuries. : abstract of the dissertation. candidate of philological sciences / I. A. Dudina. - Krasnodar, 2008. - 24 p.

8. Ilyina N. What is a detective? / N. Ilyina // Ilyina N. Belogorsk fortress: satirical prose: 1955-1985 / N. Ilyina. -Moscow: Soviet writer, 1989. - pp. 320-330.

9. KristevaYu. Selected works: destruction of poetics: trans. from French / Yu. Kristeva. - Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2004. - 656 p.

10. Kryukova L. S. Plot perspective in stories of the detective genre: abstract of the dissertation. candidate of philological sciences / L. S. Kryukova. - Moscow, 2012. - 26 p.

11. Leskov S.V. Lexical and structural-compositional features of psychological detective work: abstract of the dissertation. candidate of philological sciences: 02.10.04 / S. V. Leskov. - St. Petersburg, 2005. - 23 p.

12. Melnik V.V. Cognitive and heuristic potential of fiction of the detective genre / V.V. Melnik // Psychological journal. - 1992. - T. 13. - No. 3. - P. 94-101.

13. Merkulova E. N. Pragmatic features of the actualization of the semi-sphere “Confidence” in English detective discourse: based on the works of A. Christie and A. Conan Doyle: abstract of the dissertation... candidate of philological sciences: 02.10.04 I E. N. Merkulova. - Barnaul, 2012. - 22 p.

14. Plotnikova N. S. Discursive space: to the problem of defining the concept I N. S. Plotnikova II Magister Dixit. - 2011. - No. 2 (06). -WITH. 21.

15. Simons J. From the book “Bloody Murder” I J. Simons II How to make a detective story I trans. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 225-246.

16. Stepanov Yu. S. Alternative world, discourse, fact and principles of causality I Yu. S. Stepanov II Language and science of the late twentieth century. - Moscow: Languages of Russian Culture, 1995. - P. 35-73.

17. Teplykh R.R. Conceptospheres of English and Russian detective texts and their linguistic representation: abstract of the dissertation. Candidate of Philological Sciences: 02/10/20 I R. R. Teplykh. - Ufa, 2007. - 180 p.

18. Tolstyakov G. A. Detective: genre categories I G. A. Tolstyakov II World of bibliography. - 2000. - No. 3. - P. 73-78.

19. Freeman R. O. The art of detective I R. O. Freeman II How to make a detective story I per. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 28-37.

20. Chandler R. The simple art of killing I R. Chandler II How to make a detective story I trans. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 164-180.

21. Chesterton G.K. In Defense of Detective Literature I G. Chesterton II How to Make a Detective I per. from English, French, German, Spanish ; comp. A. Stroev; ed. N. Portugimova - Moscow: Raduga, 1990. - P. 16-24.

22. Shigonov D. A. Recurrent center as a coding unit of text: based on the material of English detective stories: abstract of the dissertation. Candidate of Philological Sciences I D. A. Shigonov. - Moscow, 2005. - 20 p.

23. Eisenstein S. About detective I S. Eisenstein II Adventure film: Paths and quests: collection scientific works I rep. ed. A. S. Troshin. -Moscow: VNIIK, 1980. - P. 132-160.

24. Eisenstein S. Tragic and comic, their embodiment in the plot I S. Eisenstein II Questions of literature. - 1968. - No. 1. - P. 107.

Crime Fiction: Causes of Popularity

The article reviews current opinions on the position held by crime fiction in literature and culture in general. Based on the analysis of viewpoints of the specialists addressing the issues of evaluating such works" genre peculiarities, the author identifies the reasons for the crime fiction popularity with readers. Furthermore, it is noted that the interest in studying the crime fiction genre has been growing lately rather than weakening in the academic society of literary scholars and linguists.

Key words: crime fiction; genre; popularity.

Georginova Natalya Yurievna, teacher of the department of specialized training in foreign languages, Murmansk State Technical University (Murmansk), [email protected].

Georginova, N., lecturer, Department of Specialized Training in Foreign Languages, Murmansk State Technical University (Murmansk), georna@mail. ru.

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Definition

An essential feature of the detective story is that the actual circumstances of the incident are not communicated to the reader, at least in its entirety, until the investigation is completed. Instead, the reader is led by the author through the investigative process, given the opportunity at each stage to build their own versions and evaluate known facts. If the work initially describes all the details of the incident, or the incident does not contain anything unusual or mysterious, then it should no longer be classified as a pure detective story, but rather among related genres (action film, police novel, etc.).

According to the famous detective author Val McDermid, the detective story as a genre became possible only with the advent of a trial based on evidence.

Features of the genre

An important property of a classic detective story is the completeness of facts. The solution to the mystery cannot be based on information that was not provided to the reader during the description of the investigation. By the time the investigation is completed, the reader should have enough information to use it to find a solution on their own. Only certain minor details may be hidden that do not affect the possibility of revealing the secret. At the end of the investigation, all mysteries must be solved, all questions must be answered.

Several more signs of a classic detective story were collectively named by N. N. Volsky hyperdeterminism of the detective's world(“the world of a detective is much more orderly than the life around us”):

Ordinary surroundings. The conditions in which the events of the detective story take place are generally common and well known to the reader (in any case, the reader himself believes that he is confident in them). Thanks to this, it is initially obvious to the reader which of what is described is ordinary and which is strange, beyond the scope.
Stereotypical behavior of characters. The characters are largely devoid of originality, their psychology and behavioral patterns are quite transparent, predictable, and if they have any distinctive features, they become known to the reader. The motives for the actions (including the motives for the crime) of the characters are also stereotypical.
The existence of a priori rules for constructing a plot, which do not always correspond to real life. So, for example, in a classic detective story, the narrator and detective, in principle, cannot turn out to be criminals.

This set of features narrows the field of possible logical constructions based on known facts, making it easier for the reader to analyze them. However, not all detective subgenres follow these rules exactly.

Another limitation is noted, which is almost always followed by a classic detective story - the inadmissibility of random errors and undetectable coincidences. For example, in real life, a witness can tell the truth, he can lie, he can be mistaken or misled, but he can also simply make an unmotivated mistake (accidentally mix up dates, amounts, names). In a detective story, the last possibility is excluded - the witness is either accurate, or lying, or his mistake has a logical justification.

Eremey Parnov points out the following features of the classic detective genre:

The first works of the detective genre are usually considered to be the stories of Edgar Poe, written in the 1840s, but elements of the detective story have been used by many authors before. For example, in the novel by William Godwin (-) “The Adventures of Caleb Williams” () one of central characters- amateur detective. The “Notes” of E. Vidocq, published in. also had a great influence on the development of detective literature. However, it was Edgar Poe who created, according to Eremey Parnov, the first Great Detective - the amateur detective Dupin from the story “Murder in the Rue Morgue.” Dupin subsequently gave birth to Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown (Chesterton), Lecoq (Gaborio) and Mr. Cuffe (Wilkie Collins). It was Edgar Poe who introduced into the detective story the idea of rivalry in solving a crime between a private detective and the official police, in which the private detective, as a rule, gains the upper hand.

The detective genre becomes popular in England after the release of W. Collins’s novels “The Woman in White” () and “The Moonstone” (). In the novels “The Hand of Wilder” () and “Checkmate” () Irish writer Ch. Le Fanu combines a detective story with a Gothic novel. The golden age of the detective story in England is considered to be the 30s - 70s. 20th century. It was at this time that the classic detective novels of Agatha Christie, F. Beading and other authors who influenced the development of the genre as a whole were published.

The founder of the French detective story is E. Gaboriau, the author of a series of novels about the detective Lecoq. Stevenson imitated Gaboriau in his detective stories(especially in "The Rajah's Diamond").

Stephen Van Dyne's Twenty Rules for Writing Mysteries

In 1928 English writer Willard Hattington, better known by his pseudonym Stephen Van Dyne, published his collection literary rules, calling it “20 rules for writing detective stories”:

2. In relation to the reader, only such tricks and deception are allowed that a criminal can use in relation to the detective.

3. Love is forbidden. The story should be a game of tag, not between lovers, but between a detective and a criminal.

4. Neither a detective nor another person professionally involved in the investigation can be a criminal.

5. Logical conclusions must lead to exposure. Accidental or unfounded confessions are not permitted.

6. A detective story cannot lack a detective who methodically searches for incriminating evidence, as a result of which he comes to a solution to the riddle.

7. The obligatory crime in a detective story is murder.

8. In solving a given mystery, all supernatural forces and circumstances must be excluded.

9. There can only be one detective in the story - the reader cannot compete with three or four members of the relay team at once.

10. The criminal should be one of the most or less significant characters well known to the reader.

11. An unacceptably cheap solution in which one of the servants is the criminal.

12. Although the criminal may have an accomplice, the story should mainly be about the capture of one person.

13. Secret or criminal communities have no place in a detective story.

14. The method of committing the murder and the investigation technique must be reasonable and scientifically sound.

15. For a savvy reader, the solution should be obvious.

16. In a detective story there is no place for literary nonsense, descriptions of painstakingly developed characters, or colorization of the situation using the means of fiction.

17. Under no circumstances can a criminal be a professional villain.

19. The motive for the crime is always of a private nature; it cannot be an espionage action, seasoned with any international intrigues or motives of the secret services.

The decade that followed the promulgation of the terms of the Van Dyne Convention finally discredited the detective story as a genre of literature. It is no coincidence that we know the detectives of previous eras well and every time we turn to their experience. But we can hardly, without looking into reference books, name the names of figures from the “Twenty Rules” clan. The modern Western detective story developed in spite of Van Dyne, refuting point after point, overcoming self-inflicted limitations. One paragraph (a detective should not be a criminal!), however, survived, although it was violated several times by the cinema. This is a reasonable prohibition, because it protects the very specificity of the detective story, its core line... modern novel we won’t see any trace of the “Rules”...

The Ten Commandments of a Detective Novel by Ronald Knox

Ronald Knox, one of the founders of the Detective Club, also proposed his own rules for writing detective stories:

I. The criminal should be someone mentioned at the beginning of the novel, but it should not be a person whose train of thought the reader was allowed to follow.

II. The action of supernatural or otherworldly forces is excluded as a matter of course.

III. The use of more than one secret room or secret passage is not permitted.

IV. It is unacceptable to use hitherto unknown poisons, as well as devices that require long scientific explanation at the end of the book.

V. The work must not include a Chinese person.

VI. A detective should never be helped by a lucky chance; he should also not be guided by unconscious but correct intuition.

VII. A detective should not turn out to be a criminal himself.

VIII. Having come across one or another clue, the detective is obliged to immediately present it to the reader for study.

IX. The detective's stupid friend, Watson in one guise or another, should not hide any of the considerations that come to his mind; in his mental abilities he should be slightly inferior - but only slightly - to the average reader.

X. Indistinguishable twin brothers and doubles in general cannot appear in a novel unless the reader is properly prepared for this.

Some types of detectives

Closed detective

A subgenre that usually most closely follows the canons of the classic detective story. The plot is based on the investigation of a crime committed in a secluded place, where there is a strictly limited set of characters. There could be no one else in this place, so the crime could only have been committed by someone present. The investigation is conducted by someone at the scene of the crime with the help of other heroes.

This type of detective story is different in that the plot, in principle, eliminates the need to search for an unknown criminal. There are suspects, and the detective’s job is to obtain as much information as possible about the participants in the events, on the basis of which it will be possible to identify the criminal. Additional psychological tension is created by the fact that the criminal must be one of the well-known, nearby people, none of whom, usually, resemble the criminal. Sometimes in a closed-type detective story a whole series of crimes occurs (usually murders), as a result of which the number of suspects is constantly reduced.

Examples of closed-type detectives:

Edgar Poe, “Murder in the Rue Morgue.”
Cyril Hare, A Very English Murder.
Agatha Christie, Ten Little Indians, Murder on the Orient Express (and almost all works).
Boris Akunin, “Leviathan” (signed by the author as a “hermetic detective”).
Leonid Slovin, “Additional arrives on the second path.”
Gaston Leroux, “The Mystery of the Yellow Room”.

Psychological detective

This type of detective story may deviate somewhat from the classical canons in terms of the requirement for stereotypical behavior and the typical psychology of the heroes and is an intersection of the genre with a psychological novel. Usually a crime committed for personal reasons (envy, revenge) is investigated, and the main element of the investigation is the study personal characteristics suspects, their attachments, pain points, beliefs, prejudices, clarifying the past. There is a school of French psychological detective.

Dickens, Charles, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
Boileau - Narcejac, “She-Wolf”, “She Who Wasn’t”, “Sea Gate”, “Outlining the Heart”.
Japriseau, Sébastien, “Lady with glasses and a gun in a car.”
Calef, Noel, "Elevator to the Scaffold."
Ball, John, “A Stifling Night in Carolina.”

Historical detective

A historical work with detective intrigue. The action takes place in the past, or an ancient crime is being investigated in the present.

Eco, Umberto “Name of the Rose”
Robert van Gulik, Judge Dee series
Agatha Christie “Death Comes at the End”, “The Five Little Pigs”
John Dixon Carr “The Bride of Newgate”, “Devil in Velvet”, “Captain Cut-Throat”
Ellis Peters, Cadfael series
Anne Perry, series Thomas Pitt, Monk
Boileau-Narcejac "In the Enchanted Forest"
Queen, Ellery "The Unknown Manuscript of Dr. Watson"
Boris Akunin, Literary project “The Adventures of Erast Fandorin”
Leonid Yuzefovich, Literary project about detective Putilin
Alexander Bushkov, The Adventures of Alexey Bestuzhev
Igor Moskvin, cycle Petersburg investigation 1870-1883

Ironic detective

The detective investigation is described from a humorous point of view. Often works written in this vein parody and ridicule the cliches of a detective novel.

Agatha Christie, Partners in Crime
Varshavsky, Ilya, “The robbery will happen at midnight”
Kaganov, Leonid, “Major Bogdamir saves money”
Kozachinsky, Alexander, “Green Van”
Westlake, Donald, "Cursed Emerald" ( hot pebble), "The Bank That Gurgled"
Ioanna Khmelevskaya (most works)
Daria Dontsova (all works)
Yene Reite (all works)

Fantastic detective

Works at the intersection of science fiction and detective fiction. The action can take place in the future, an alternative present or past, or in a completely fictional world.

Lem, Stanislav, “Investigation”, “Inquiry”
Russell, Eric Frank, "Routine Work", "Wasp"
Holm-van-Zajchik, series “There are no bad people”
Kir Bulychev, cycle “Intergalactic Police” (“Intergpol”)
Isaac Asimov, series Lucky Starr - space ranger, Detective Elijah Bailey and robot Daniel Olivo
Sergey Lukyanenko, Genome
John Brunner, The Squares of the City (English: The Squares of the City; Russian translation -)
Strugatsky Brothers, Hotel “At the Dead Mountaineer”
Cook, Glenn, a series of fantasy detective stories about detective Garrett
Randall Garrett, a fantasy detective series about detective Lord Darcy
Boris Akunin "Children's book"
Kluger, Daniel, fantasy detective series “Magical Matters”
Edgar Alan Poe - Murder in the Rue Morgue
Harry Turtledove - The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump

Political detective

One of the genres quite far from the classic detective story. The main intrigue is built around political events and rivalry between various political or business figures and forces. It also often happens that main character himself is far from politics, however, while investigating a case, he comes across an obstacle to the investigation from the “those in power” or uncovers some kind of conspiracy. A distinctive feature of a political detective story is (although not necessarily) the possible absence of complete goodies except the main thing. This genre is rarely found in its pure form, but can be an integral part of the work.

Agatha Christie, The Big Four
Boris Akunin, “State Counselor”
Levashov, Victor, “Conspiracy of Patriots”
Adam Hall, "Berlin Memorandum" (Quiller Memorandum)
Nikolai Svechin, “The Tsar Hunt”, “Demon of the Underworld”

Spy detective

Based on the narrative of the activities of intelligence officers, spies and saboteurs in both military and Peaceful time on the "invisible front". In terms of stylistic boundaries, it is very close to political and conspiracy detective stories, and is often combined in the same work. The main difference between a spy detective and a political detective is that in a political detective the most important position is occupied by the political basis of the case under investigation and antagonistic conflicts, while in a spy detective the attention is focused on intelligence work (surveillance, sabotage, etc.). A conspiracy detective can be considered a variety of both a spy and a political detective.

Agatha Christie, The Cat Among the Pigeons, The Man in the Brown Suit, The Hours, Baghdad Meetings (and most works).
John Le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
John Boynton Priestley, The Darkness of Gretley (1942)
James Grady, "Six Days of the Condor"
Boris Akunin, “Turkish Gambit”
Dmitry Medvedev, “It was near Rovno”
Nikolay Daleky, “The Practice of Sergei Rubtsov”

The detective genre can be called the most popular among all others. People of all ages enjoy being detectives. Intricate plots, investigations and various adventures completely captivate the reader and draw them into a mysterious world. In addition, you can choose a detective story to suit every taste - be it historical, romantic, ironic or political.

Most books of this genre published in series. For example, stories about Perry Mason, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and many others. They take the reader into a world full of surprises, experiences and new adventures.

Foreign detective stories are represented by such famous authors as Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ioanna Khmelevskaya, Erle Stanley Gardner and many others. Among domestic writers one can name Alexandra Marinina, Daria Dontsova, Boris Akunin, and the Weiner brothers.

The main feature of the detective genre is a mysterious incident, the circumstances of which are unknown, but must be clarified. Basically, the incident described is a crime.

A distinctive feature of a detective story is that the reader does not know the real circumstances of the crime until the investigation is completed. The author guides him through the entire process of solving the incident, giving him the opportunity to make certain conclusions himself. If all the facts are described at the beginning of the book, then the work can be attributed to some related genre, but not to a detective story in its pure form.

Another important property of the described direction of literature is the completeness of facts. The result of the investigation is necessarily based on the information that the reader knows. By the time the work is completed, all information must be provided in full. Thus, the reader can find the solution himself. Only small details that do not affect the outcome of revealing the secret can remain hidden. At the end, all questions must be answered, and all riddles must be solved.

Although detective stories are considered fiction, the stories described are often encountered in life.

Some types of detectives

Closed detective. A subgenre that usually most closely follows the canons of the classic detective story. The plot is based on the investigation of a crime committed in a secluded place, where there is a strictly limited set of characters. There can be no one else in this place, so the crime could only be committed by someone present and the investigation is carried out by someone present at the scene of the crime with the help of the other heroes. Examples of closed detective stories: Agatha Christie “Murder on the Orient Express”, “Ten Little Indians”; Boris Akunin "Leviathan"; Daria Dontsova “The Flying Impostor”; Vladimir Kuzmin “Envelope from Shanghai” (series “The Adventures of Dasha Bestuzheva”).

Psychological detective. This type of detective story may deviate somewhat from the classical canons in terms of the requirement for stereotypical behavior and the typical psychology of the heroes. Usually a crime committed for personal reasons (envy, revenge) is investigated, and the main element of the investigation is the study of the personal characteristics of the suspects, their attachments, pain points, beliefs, prejudices, and clarification of the past. Examples of psychological detective stories: Charles Dickens “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”; Fyodor Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment."

A historical detective story is a historical work with detective intrigue. The action takes place in the past, or an ancient crime is being investigated in the present. Example: Gilbert Keith Chesterton "Father Brown"; Boris Akunin literary project “The Adventures of Erast Fandorin”; Henry Winterfeld "Detectives in Togas"; Elena Artamonova “The Kingdom of the Living Mummy.”

Ironic detective. The detective investigation is described from a humorous point of view. Often, works written in this vein parody and ridicule the cliches of a detective novel.
Examples: Daria Dontsova (all works); Alexander Kazachinsky “Green Van”; Ioanna Khmelevskaya “Haunted House”, “Treasures”, “Special Merits”, etc.; the “Funny Detective” series, which includes works by various authors.

Fantastic detective. Works at the intersection of science fiction and detective fiction. The action may take place in the future, an alternative present or past, in a completely fictional world. Examples: Stanislav Lem “Investigation”, “Inquiry”; Kir Bulychev cycle “Intergalactic Police” (“Intergpol”); The Strugatsky brothers “Hotel “At the Dead Mountaineer””; Kirsten Miller "Kiki Strike Girl Detective".

Political detective. The main intrigue is built around political events and rivalry between various political or business figures and forces. It often happens that the main character is far from politics, however, while investigating a case, he comes across an obstacle from the “powers that be” or uncovers a conspiracy. A distinctive feature of a political detective story is the absence of completely positive characters, except for the main one. This genre is rarely found in its pure form, but can be an integral part of the work. A classic example of this type is the work of Boris Akunin “State Councilor”; Evgenios Trivizas "The Last Black Cat".

Spy detective. Based on the narrative of the activities of intelligence officers, spies and saboteurs both in wartime and in peacetime on the “invisible front”. In terms of stylistic boundaries, it is very close to political and conspiracy detective stories, and is often combined in the same work. The main difference between a spy detective and a political detective is that in a political detective the most important position is occupied by the political basis of the case under investigation, while in a spy detective the attention is focused on intelligence work (surveillance, sabotage, etc.).

A conspiracy detective can be considered a variety of both a spy and a political detective. The authors, moving towards solving the crime, build a narrative line into the historical past, which appears to be criminal, dominated by a certain secret society.

Examples of spy detective stories: Agatha Christie's "Cat Among Pigeons"; Boris Akunin “Turkish Gambit”; Dmitry Medvedev “It was near Rovno”; Yulian Semyonov “Seventeen Moments of Spring”; Valery Ronshin "The Secret of Marshmallows in Chocolate."

Police detective. Describes the work of a team of professionals. In works of this type, the main detective character is either absent or only marginally higher in importance compared to the rest of the team. In terms of the authenticity of the plot, it is closest to reality and, accordingly, deviates to the greatest extent from the canons of the pure detective genre. The professional routine is described in detail with details that are not directly related to the plot; there is a significant proportion of accidents and coincidences, big role The presence of informants in the criminal environment plays a role; the criminal often remains unnamed and unknown until the very end of the investigation, and can also evade punishment due to the negligence of the investigation or lack of direct evidence.
Examples: Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" series; Yulian Semenov “Petrovka 38”, “Ogareva 6”.

"Cool" detective. Most often it is described as a lone detective, a man of 35-40 years old, or a small detective agency. In works of this type the main character is opposed to almost the entire world: organized crime, corrupt politicians, corrupt police. Main features - maximum action of the hero, his “coolness”, vile the world and the honesty of the protagonist. Examples: Dashiell Hammett's series about the Continental Detective Agency - considered the founder of the genre; Raymond Chandler "Farewell, Sweetheart", "High Window", "The Woman in the Lake"; James Hadley Chase “There Will Be No Witnesses”, “The Whole World in Your Pocket”, etc.

The detective story is a recognized leader among the genres of modern children's literature. And although he is pressed on all sides by fantasy and “virtual” adventures, the children’s detective story continues to live and develop rapidly, despite its advanced age.

Among the creators of children's detective stories there are also quite venerable writers. For example, Erich Kästner, author of the story “Emil and the Detectives”, Astrid Lindgren, who wrote books about the super detective Kalle Blomkvist, Anatoly Rybakov with his famous “Dirk”.

Among the authors of modern children's detective stories are Valery Ronshin, Ekaterina Vilmont, Elena Matveeva, Anton Ivanov, Anna Ustinova, Alexey Birger, Sergey Silin, Valery Gusev, Vladimir Averin, Galina Gordienko, Andrey Grushkin, and this list is far from complete. To the authors of children's detective stories we can add the master of this genre, Boris Akunin, who published the detective story "Children's Book" and adapted his "adult" novels for children.

There are many varieties of children's detective stories: everyday and historical detective stories, mystical (“horror stories”) and fairy tales (their heroes are characters from Russian folklore).

For example, we can cite the series: “Black Kitten” (Elena Artamonova “Fun from the Stone Age”, Valery Gusev “Agent Number One”, etc.); “Detective Agency” (Anton Ivanov, Anna Ustinova “The Mystery of the Black Widow”, “The Mystery of the Missing Academician”, etc.); “Abbey Mysteries” (Cherith Baldry “The Spell of the Monastery Cauldron”, “The Secret of the Royal Sword”, “The Cross of King Arthur”); “Detective + Love” (Ekaterina Vilmont “It’s Hard to Be Brave”, “In Search of Treasures”, etc.), etc.

The main feature of a detective story as a genre is the presence in the work of a certain mysterious incident, the circumstances of which are unknown and must be clarified. The most frequently described incident is a crime, although there are detective stories in which events that are not criminal are investigated (for example, in The Notes of Sherlock Holmes, which certainly belongs to the detective genre, in five stories out of eighteen there are no crimes).
An essential feature of the detective story is that the actual circumstances of the incident are not communicated to the reader, at least in its entirety, until the investigation is completed. Instead, the reader is led by the author through the investigative process, given the opportunity at each stage to construct their own versions and evaluate known facts. If the work initially describes all the details of the incident, or the incident does not contain anything unusual or mysterious, then it should no longer be classified as a pure detective story, but rather among related genres (action film, police novel, etc.).

Typical characters

Detective - directly involved in the investigation. A variety of people can act as detectives: law enforcement officers, private detectives, relatives, friends, acquaintances of the victims, and sometimes completely random people. The detective cannot turn out to be a criminal. The figure of the detective is central to the detective story.
A professional detective is a law enforcement officer. Can be a very expert high level, and maybe an ordinary police officer, of which there are many. In the second case, in difficult situations, he sometimes seeks advice from a consultant (see below).
A private detective - crime investigation is his main job, but he does not serve in the police, although he may be a retired police officer. As a rule, he is extremely highly qualified, active and energetic. Most often, a private detective becomes a central figure, and to emphasize his qualities, professional detectives can be brought into action, who constantly make mistakes, succumb to the provocations of the criminal, get on the wrong trail and suspect the innocent. The contrast “a lonely hero against a bureaucratic organization and its officials” is used, in which the sympathies of the author and the reader are on the side of the hero.
An amateur detective is the same as a private detective, with the only difference being that investigating crimes for him is not a profession, but a hobby that he turns to only from time to time. A separate subtype of amateur detective is a random person who has never engaged in such activities, but is forced to conduct an investigation due to urgent necessity, for example, to save an unjustly accused loved one or to divert suspicion from himself. The amateur detective brings the investigation closer to the reader, allowing him to create the impression that “I could figure this out too.” One of the conventions of detective series with amateur detectives (like Miss Marple) is that in real life a person, unless he is professionally involved in crime investigation, is unlikely to encounter such a number of crimes and mysterious incidents.
A criminal commits a crime, covers his tracks, tries to counteract the investigation. In a classic detective story, the figure of the criminal is clearly identified only at the end of the investigation; up to this point, the criminal can be a witness, suspect or victim. Sometimes the actions of the criminal are described during the course of the main action, but in such a way as not to reveal his identity and not to provide the reader with information that could not be obtained during the investigation from other sources.
The victim is the one against whom the crime is directed or the one who suffered as a result of a mysterious incident. One of the standard options for a detective story is that the victim himself turns out to be a criminal.
A witness is a person who has any information about the subject of the investigation. The criminal is often first shown in the description of the investigation as one of the witnesses.
A detective's companion is a person who is constantly in contact with the detective, participating in the investigation, but does not have the abilities and knowledge of the detective. He can provide technical assistance in the investigation, but his main task is to more clearly show the outstanding abilities of the detective against the background of the average level ordinary person. In addition, a companion is needed to ask the detective questions and listen to his explanations, giving the reader the opportunity to follow the detective's train of thought and pay attention to individual moments which the reader himself might miss. Classic examples of such companions are Dr. Watson from Conan Doyle and Arthur Hastings from Agatha Christie.
A consultant is a person who has strong abilities to conduct an investigation, but is not directly involved in it. In detective stories, where a separate figure of the consultant stands out, she may be the main one (for example, the journalist Ksenofontov in the detective stories of Viktor Pronin), or she may simply turn out to be an occasional adviser (for example, the teacher of the detective to whom he turns for help).
Assistant - does not conduct the investigation himself, but provides the detective and/or consultant with information that he obtains himself. For example, a forensic expert.
Suspect - as the investigation progresses, an assumption arises that it was he who committed the crime. The authors deal with suspects in different ways; one of the frequently practiced principles is “none of those immediately suspected is a real criminal,” that is, everyone who comes under suspicion turns out to be innocent, and the real criminal turns out to be the one who was not suspected of anything. However, not all authors follow this principle. In Agatha Christie's detective stories, for example, Miss Marple repeatedly says that “in life, it is usually the one who is suspected first that is the criminal.”

Twenty rules for writing a detective story

In 1928, the English writer Willard Hattington, better known by his pseudonym Stephen Van Dyne, published his set of literary rules, calling it “20 Rules for Writing Mysteries”:

1. It is necessary to provide the reader with equal opportunities to unravel the mysteries as the detective, for which purpose it is necessary to clearly and accurately report all incriminating traces.
2. In relation to the reader, only such tricks and deception are allowed that a criminal can use in relation to the detective.
3. Love is forbidden. The story should be a game of tag, not between lovers, but between a detective and a criminal.
4. Neither a detective nor another person professionally involved in the investigation can be a criminal.
5. Logical conclusions must lead to exposure. Accidental or unfounded confessions are not permitted.
6. A detective story cannot lack a detective who methodically searches for incriminating evidence, as a result of which he comes to a solution to the riddle.
7. The obligatory crime in a detective story is murder.
8. In solving a given mystery, all supernatural forces and circumstances must be excluded.
9. There can only be one detective in the story - the reader cannot compete with three or four members of the relay team at once.
10. The criminal should be one of the most or less significant characters well known to the reader.
11. An unacceptably cheap solution in which one of the servants is the criminal.
12. Although the criminal may have an accomplice, the story should mainly be about the capture of one person.
13. Secret or criminal communities have no place in a detective story.
14. The method of committing the murder and the investigation technique must be reasonable and scientifically sound.
15. For a savvy reader, the solution should be obvious.
16. In a detective story there is no place for literary nonsense, descriptions of painstakingly developed characters, or colorization of the situation using the means of fiction.
17. Under no circumstances can a criminal be a professional villain.
18. It is forbidden to explain the mystery as an accident or suicide.
19. The motive for the crime is always of a private nature; it cannot be an espionage action, seasoned with any international intrigues or motives of the secret services.
20. The author of detective stories should avoid all stereotyped solutions and ideas.

Types of detectives

Closed detective
A subgenre that usually most closely follows the canons of the classic detective story. The plot is based on the investigation of a crime committed in a secluded place, where there is a strictly limited set of characters. There could be no one else in this place, so the crime could only have been committed by someone present. The investigation is conducted by someone at the scene of the crime, with the help of other heroes.
This type of detective story is different in that the plot, in principle, eliminates the need to search for an unknown criminal. There are suspects, and the detective’s job is to obtain as much information as possible about the participants in the events, on the basis of which it will be possible to identify the criminal. Additional psychological tension is created by the fact that the criminal must be one of the well-known, nearby people, none of whom, usually, resemble the criminal. Sometimes in a closed-type detective story a whole series of crimes occurs (usually murders), as a result of which the number of suspects is constantly reduced.
Psychological detective
This type of detective story may deviate somewhat from the classical canons in terms of the requirement for stereotypical behavior and the typical psychology of the heroes. Usually a crime committed for personal reasons (envy, revenge) is investigated, and the main element of the investigation is the study of the personal characteristics of the suspects, their attachments, pain points, beliefs, prejudices, and clarification of the past. There is a school of French psychological detective.
Historical detective
A historical work with detective intrigue. The action takes place in the past, or an ancient crime is being investigated in the present.
Ironic detective
The detective investigation is described from a humorous point of view. Often works written in this vein parody the cliches of a detective novel.
Fantastic detective
Works at the intersection of science fiction and detective fiction. The action may take place in the future, an alternative present or past, in a completely fictional world.
Political detective
One of the genres quite far from the classic detective story. The main intrigue is built around political events and rivalry between various political or business figures and forces. It also often happens that the main character himself is far from politics, however, while investigating a case, he comes across an obstacle to the investigation from the “powers that be” or uncovers some kind of conspiracy. A distinctive feature of a political detective story is (although not necessarily) the possible absence of completely positive characters, except for the main one. This genre is rarely found in its pure form, but can be an integral part of the work.
Spy detective
Based on the narrative of the activities of intelligence officers, spies and saboteurs both in wartime and in peacetime on the “invisible front”. In terms of stylistic boundaries, it is very close to political and conspiracy detective stories, and is often combined in the same work. The main difference between a spy detective and a political detective is that in a political detective the most important position is occupied by the political basis of the case under investigation and antagonistic conflicts, while in a spy detective the attention is focused on intelligence work (surveillance, sabotage, etc.). A conspiracy detective can be considered a variety of both a spy and a political detective.

Aphorisms about a detective

Thanks to criminals, world culture has been enriched by the detective genre.

If you don’t know what to write, write: “A man walked in with a revolver in his hand” (Raymond Chandler).

The slower the investigator, the longer the detective (Viktor Romanov).

There are so many motives for crimes that the detective (Georgy Alexandrov) is scratching his turnips.

In detective stories it’s like this: some people hoard good things, others just wait for it.

From committing a crime to solving it - it's all just one detective novel (Boris Shapiro).

Detective (English detective, from Latin detego - I reveal, expose) is a literary genre whose works describe the process of investigating a mysterious incident in order to clarify its circumstances and solve the riddle. Usually such an incident is a crime, and the detective describes its investigation and determination guilty, in this case the conflict is built on the clash of justice with lawlessness, ending in the victory of justice.

The main feature of a detective story as a genre is the presence in the work of a certain mysterious incident, the circumstances of which are unknown and must be clarified. The most commonly described incident is a crime, although there are detective stories that investigate events that are not criminal.

An essential feature of the detective story is that the actual circumstances of the incident are not communicated to the reader, at least in its entirety, until the investigation is completed. Instead, the reader is led by the author through the investigative process, given the opportunity at each stage to construct their own versions and evaluate known facts. If the work initially describes all the details of the incident, or the incident does not contain anything unusual or mysterious, then it should no longer be classified as a pure detective story, but rather among related genres (action film, police novel, etc.).

“The world of a detective story is much more orderly than the life around us,” was N. N. Vasiliev’s opinion about the “detective” genre.

What is often found in the detective genre:

Ordinary surroundings. The conditions in which the events of the detective story take place are generally common and well known to the reader (in any case, the reader himself believes that he is confident in them). Thanks to this, it is initially obvious to the reader which of what is described is ordinary and which is strange, beyond the scope.

Stereotypical behavior of characters. The characters are largely devoid of originality, their psychology and behavioral patterns are quite transparent, predictable, and if they have any distinctive features, they become known to the reader. The motives for the actions (including the motives for the crime) of the characters are also stereotypical.

The existence of rules for constructing a plot that do not always correspond to real life. So, for example, in a classic detective story, the narrator and detective, in principle, cannot turn out to be criminals.

Another limitation is noted, which is almost always followed by a classic detective story - the inadmissibility of random errors and undetectable coincidences. For example, in real life, a witness can tell the truth, he can lie, he can be mistaken or misled, but he can simply make an unmotivated mistake (accidentally, mix up dates, amounts, names). In a detective story, the last possibility is excluded - the witness is either accurate, or lying, or his mistake has a logical justification.

Evolution of the genre

The first developers of the genre were such famous writers as E. A. Poe, G. K. Chesterton, A. Conan Doyle, G. Leroux, E. Wallace, S. S. Van Dyne, D. Hammett, E. Quinn and etc.

Perhaps the first detective theorist as special genre became G. K. Chesterton, who spoke in 1902 with the article “In Defense of Detective Literature.” In his essay, Chesterton emphasizes that "the detective novel or short story is a perfectly legitimate literary genre." “The most important virtue of the detective story is that it is the earliest and so far the only form of popular literature in which a certain sense of poetry was expressed modern life» .

At the beginning of the 20th century, attempts were made to develop standards in accordance with which works of the detective genre would be created. So, in 1928, the English writer Willard Hattington published his set of literary rules, calling it “20 rules for writing detective stories.”

Among modern detective researchers one should name A. Adamov, G. Andzhaparidze, N. Berkovsky, V. Rudnev, A. Vulis. Their works trace the history of the genre, analyze its poetics, and explore artistic parallels in the works of different authors.

Detective according to V. Rudnev is “a genre specific to mass literature and cinema of the twentieth century." Rudnev explains the peculiarity of the detective genre by the fact that “ main element as a genre lies in the presence of a protagonist - a detective detective (usually a private one) who detects a crime. The main content of the detective story is, therefore, the search for truth.

Let's look again at the definition of genre:

DETECTIVE (Latin detectio – disclosure of English detective – detective) – piece of art, the plot of which is based on the conflict between good and evil, realized in solving a crime.

It turns out that the educational and psychological aspects come to the fore in a detective story: a detective story must show the triumph of good, the inevitability of punishment for evil, and it also makes it possible to reveal the nature of the crime. How does a person become inclined to commit a crime? How does this happen: is the environment to blame for everything or does he tend to do it himself?

The detective story shows a person in a rare situation - during a personal or social drama. Detective is an intense struggle, be it an intellectual battle, interrogation, chase, shooting or hand-to-hand combat.

The Weiner brothers noted that a prerequisite for a detective is sociality. And since the subject of the detective story is crime, he “takes a slice of life in which explosive forces have accumulated, in which the “negative aspects” have broken through the social foundations of morality and legality. It is detective writers who resolutely and mercilessly expose the ulcers and festerings of society.”

Charles P. Snow wrote that detective literature is a sign of civilization and the investigation of crime is a symbol of everything positive that is in modern world, romance in the full sense of the word. This property of a detective is especially valuable now, at a time of acute shortage of true romance, a dangerous fight against evil, its exposure and punishment.

Speaking about the detective story, one cannot ignore the writer who revolutionized the genre, immortalizing the classic detective story. This is, of course, Agatha Christie! She introduced the world to a new concept of prose, which proclaimed the rule of law and the triumph of reason, protecting society as a whole and individuals in particular against the threat of someone encroaching on the rights and freedoms of others. The genius Edgar Allan Poe, who founded the detective story as such, gravitated towards mysticism, and therefore did not form the “idea of Nemesis”, justice over criminals, which was later discovered in Christie; Arthur Conan Doyle made a significant contribution to the development of this genre, proposing a universal image of the hero - the legendary Sherlock Holmes, famous for his logic and determination; Issues of morality were repeatedly considered by the respected Keith Gilbert Chesterton, through his main character - Father Brown - addressing the attentive reader. But it was a woman who was destined to lead the victorious march of the detective, who in the 1920s and 1930s became a confident representative of the middle class of Westerners. Making close to ideal justice and the inevitability of punishment for the criminal the leitmotif in her works, Christie did not forget about literature directly, with her piercing simplicity winning the trust of readers, heating up the intrigue to the limit and describing the everyday conflicts of good old Britain.

Analysis of Agatha Christie's work

"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"

For analysis, the novel “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” was taken, recognized at one time as one of Agatha Christie’s best creations and a masterpiece of the genre.

The novel takes place in the fictional English village of Kings Abbot. The story begins with the death of Mrs. Ferrar, a wealthy widow rumored to have murdered her husband. The villagers believe that the widow committed suicide until Roger Ackroyd, a widower who was planning to marry Mrs. Ferrar, dies.

Hercule Poirot, who arrived at the scene, begins an investigation, having many suspects around - Ackroyd's relatives and acquaintances, each of whom was interested in his death. One of them, the last person to see Ackroyd alive, Dr. James Shepard, is the narrator of the story and traces Poirot's actions step by step, acting as a kind of "Dr. Watson" - the professional detective's assistant and biographer. Here and there in the text of the novel, “keys” to the mystery are scattered - hints, reservations, details - which, with careful reading, can open your eyes to what is happening long before the denouement of the story.

The key word, which, in our opinion, forms the basis of the novel is the word “weak-willed”. It is first spoken in Chapter 17 by Dr. Shepard, and then by his sister Caroline in relation to himself.

“We started talking about Ralph Paton.

“He’s a weak-willed man,” I insisted, “but not vicious.”

A! But weakness, where does it end?

That’s right,” said Caroline, “take James, for example, as soft as water.” If I weren't there to look after him

My dear Caroline,” I said irritably, “could you please not get personal?”

“You’re weak, James,” she continued, completely unmoved by my remark, “I’m eight years older than you Oh! I don’t mind if Monsieur Poirot knows about it.”

It is weakness of will that leads to dramatic consequences: blackmail, incitement to suicide, murder of a person and betrayal of a friend for the sake of personal interests. Here's how Hercule Poirot puts it:

“Let’s take a person - a very ordinary person who doesn’t even have thoughts of murder. But somewhere in the depths of the soul lurks a certain tendency towards weakness. Nothing affects her, and she does not express herself. Perhaps it will never manifest itself, and the person will go to his grave honest and respected by everyone. But let's say something happened. He finds himself in a difficult situation. Or not even that. He accidentally learns some secret, a secret on which someone’s life or death depends. His first instinct is to talk about it, to honestly fulfill his duty as a citizen. And then his tendency to weak will manifests itself. He sees that he can get money - big money. But he needs money, he craves it. And it's so easy. He doesn't have to do anything to get them. He just needs to be silent. This is the beginning. But the passion for money is growing. He needs more and more! He is intoxicated by the discovery of a gold mine at his feet. He becomes greedy, and in his greed he outsmarts himself.”

Who knows how many more murders could have followed if the criminal had not been stopped? The people closest to you could also come under attack.

“But what scared me most was Caroline. I thought she might guess. She spoke strangely that day about my tendency to be weak-willed.”

The most notable technique, the use of which has led to much discussion, is the use of an unreliable narrator who ends up being the murderer. In his final confession, Dr. Sheppard tries to justify himself from possible accusations of lying:

“I'm quite pleased with myself as a writer. What could be more accurate, for example, the following words: “The letter was brought at twenty minutes to nine. It remained unread when I left at ten minutes to nine. Having already grabbed the doorknob, I hesitantly stopped and looked around, wondering if I had done everything. Without thinking of anything, I went out and closed the door behind me.”

Agatha Christie's idea was that Dr. Sheppard does not hide the truth and does not lie - he simply does not say anything. In particular, he "forgets" to mention what happened between 20.40 and 20.50, when Roger Ackroyd was actually killed.

Events take on new meaning in the reader's eyes when the killer becomes known. Dr. Sheppard himself is amazed at his duplicity, the complexity of the investigation and the fact that so many people were under suspicion. On the one hand, he is overcome by the fear of exposure, on the other hand, he admires and is proud of his cunning, the fact that he can fool such a person around his finger. famous detective like Poirot!

Even after exposure, the killer does not regret what he did, the lives lost, believing that they received a well-deserved punishment and retribution. He doesn't even feel sorry for himself. He is dejected by one thing: that Hercule Poirot appeared there.

“And then what happens next? Veronal? It would be like retribution from above, something like poetic justice. I do not consider myself responsible for the death of Mrs. Ferrars. It was a direct result of her own actions. I don't feel sorry for her. I don't even have pity for myself. So let it be veronal. But it would be better if Hercule Poirot never retired and came here to grow pumpkins."

So, based on the above, we can draw the following conclusions

1. Having worked out the definition of the “detective” genre and examined the evolution of this genre, we found out that the distinctive property of the classic detective story is the moral idea or morality inherent in it. Thus, in the novels of A. Christie, the matter always turns out to be the punishment of the criminal and the triumph of justice.

2. In detective stories you can catch a lot of educational and even warning; situations related to universal human vices are given. Usually, the heroes are placed in very extreme situations, which helps the author to identify hidden personality traits in apparently prosperous people.

What do we see in Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd?

Betrayal of a loved one for the sake of self-interest

Betrayal of a friend for personal interests

What is the result?

Easy money that doesn't bring happiness

Drive to suicide

Killing a man

Constant fear of exposure

But why, one might ask, does a person need any additional problems, because life is already full of various troubles. Being driven into a dead end, financial disadvantage and other problems gradually break a person, and soon he succumbs to vices, stooping, for example, to theft or blackmail. Then a moment of insurmountable fear comes, and as a result you have to commit another, more serious crime in order to avoid punishment for the first.

Does the person at this moment think that he is making his situation twice as difficult? Evil eats away at a person, one vice leads to another, and easy money only goes to waste, as easily as it is obtained, so easily does it go away.

In this work, the main character begins to write a novel about everything that happens. Why did you need to write about your own crime? It's all about the incredible confidence of a man who competently built an alibi for himself and hoped to send this book to Hercule Poirot as the first unsolved crime in his practice. And what didn't work out in the end?

People should not forget that any crime does not go unpunished, and if the sentence is not passed by the court, then life, which is more severe and merciless, will hand it down.

Exploring the world, people become wiser and purer. A detective novel is also a kind of knowledge - through observation to “insight”, to the discovery of the truth. Human dramas in Agatha Christie's novels are not put in the foreground, they always remain in the depths, which is why they produce such strong impression. It’s as if in pursuit of an entertaining plot you pass by human destinies.

The materials of this study can be used during extracurricular activities on literature, in lessons when studying foreign literature 20th century as additional material.