The Nineteenth Century Periodical Press and the Development of Detective Fiction Contributor(s): Saunders, Samuel (Author) |
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ISBN: 0367029618 ISBN-13: 9780367029616 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $171.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: May 2021 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | American - General - Education | Teaching Methods & Materials - Language Arts - Literary Collections | American - General |
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 6" W x 9.1" (1.05 lbs) 246 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: This book re-imagines nineteenth-century detective fiction as a literary genre that was connected to, and nurtured by, contemporary periodical journalism. Whilst 'detective fiction' is almost universally-accepted to have originated in the nineteenth century, a variety of widely-accepted scholarly narratives of the genre's evolution neglect to connect it with the development of a free press. The volume traces how police officers, detectives, criminals, and the criminal justice system were discussed in the pages of a variety of magazines and journals, and argues that this affected how the wider nineteenth-century society perceived organised law enforcement and detection. This, in turn, helped to shape detective fiction into the genre that we recognise today. The book also explores how periodicals and newspapers contained forgotten, non-canonical examples of 'detective fiction', and that these texts can help complicate the narrative of the genre's evolution across the mid- to late nineteenth century. |