191-032 Criminal Fictions

Note

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Prerequisites

37.5 points of second/third year criminology subjects for third year. Admission to the Postgraduate Diploma or Fourth Year Honours in Criminology for fourth year.

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject involves theories and methods in the cultural analysis of crime, with particular reference to the stories told about crime by victims, offenders, criminal justice agents, criminologists, and general members of the public. The aim is to examine narrative structures and genres in stories about crime; to read narratives about crime in their social, historical and cultural contexts; to study the legitimation of particular voices and stories. Examples to be studied include: detective fiction; crime fiction; news media accounts of crime; survivor testimony; eyewitness testimony; policy reports; criminological studies. Students who complete the subject should be able to analyse critically the construction of crime narratives, and the implications of their purpose, audience, and genre.

Assessment

Written work on a range of topics selected by the coordinator or by the student in conjunction with the coordinator totalling 4000 words for third year, 5000 words for fourth year.

Prescribed Texts

Material provided by the Department.