106-216 Victorian Crime Writing

Usually 12.5 points of first year English.

The nineteenth century saw the development of a new type of fiction, which demonized the villain and elevated the detective to heroic status. This subject will introduce students to the study of crime fiction as a literary genre and will also consider the impact of contemporary journalism upon the form. We shall examine the development of the crime novel in the nineteenth century - largely in response to the establishment of a police force in 1829 - and the subsequent rise of detection as a science. The class will focus primarily on British crime novels, short stories and journalism of the Victorian age, but we shall begin by looking at early influential representations of the master criminal and detective by the likes of Balzac and Poe and we shall, of course, tackle Dostoevsky's 1866 masterpiece Crime and Punishment. The subject will address the social, political and economic changes generating a new middle-class (and later in the century a working-class) readership and we will consider how these new audiences influenced constructions of crime and criminality. Crimes under consideration will range from the economic, to murder, to sexual transgression. We will examine the serialization and circulation of crime fiction, changes to the legal system, sensation fiction, scientific discourses surrounding the criminal mind, and technological advancements that aided detection both in fiction and in fact. Consideration will also be given to why the genre has, until recently, been neglected by literary scholarship.

• acquire skills in research, including the competent use of library, and other (including online) information sources, and the ability to define areas of inquiry and methods of research;

• acquire skills in critical thinking and analysis, including the ability to question accepted wisdom, shape and strengthen persuasive judgments and arguments, and develop critical self-awareness;

• acquire skills in theoretical thinking through a productive engagement with relevant methodologies and paradigms in literary studies and the broader humanities;

• acquire skills in creative thinking through essay writing and tutorial discussion, through the innovative conceptualising of problems and an appreciation of the role of creativity in critical analysis;

• develop social, ethical and cultural understanding;

• develop intelligent and effective communication of knowledge and ideas:

• develop skills in time management and planning related to the successful organisation of workloads, disciplined self-direction and the ability to meet deadlines.

Written work totalling 4000 words comprising one 1500 word essay (40%) and one 2500 word essay (50%) (due mid-semester and due at the end of semester respectively). A hurdle requirement of a minimum 80% attendance and a class presentation and participation in class discussions required.

A subject reader of primary material, critical essays and selected stories will be available from the University Bookshop.

• Honor de Balzac, M Crawford (trans), Old Goriot (1834). Penguin 1964.
• Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret. Penguin, 1998.
• C Dickens, P Horne (ed), Oliver Twist (1837-8). Penguin 2003.
• A C Doyle, The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes. Penguin 1981.
• F Dostoevsky, D McDuff (trans), Crime and Punishment (1866). Penguin 2003.
• R L Stevenson, M Donahay (ed), The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). Broadview 1999.