Enquiring Minds: Murder Mysteries in French Literature from Realism to Post-Modernism

Module description

The process of criminal investigation has emerged over the last 200 years as a peerlessly efficient machine for generating narrative. Crime fiction accounts today for somewhere between 20% and 25% of all fiction published in the world. But although crime fiction is sometimes seen as a mass culture phenomenon, louche and disreputable, pandering to morbid and ghoulish instincts, it plays an important role in modern literary history. Stories about criminal investigations are stories about constructing narratives, and are thus a privileged object of study when considering the evolution of the modern novel.  From Balzac to Modiano, writers have used murder mysteries to explore questions of representation, knowledge and identity. Through examining the six prescribed texts we will explore topics such as masculinity, trauma, fate and free will, and the human struggle to make meaning in the face of a sometimes chaotic world.  

 

Assessment details

One 3-hour exam in May.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students will be able:

• To demonstrate detailed knowledge of the primary texts on the syllabus.
• To demonstrate understanding of the historical and literary historical context in which the texts were written.
• To discuss the themes of the course with relation to both primary and secondary sources.
• To conduct independent research on the questions raised by the course. 
• To construct cogent arguments in response to questions and judiciously to use textual evidence to support those arguments. 
• Confidently to present their views.

Teaching pattern

Two hours per week

Suggested reading list

• Balzac, Ferragus
• Zola, La Bête humaine
• Maurice Leblanc, ‘Le Mystérieux Voyageur’
• Gide, Les Caves du Vatican
• Perec, La Disparition
• Modiano, Rue des boutiques obscures

Module description disclaimer

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