Detective Fiction: Hammett, Chandler, and P.D. James
LIT 60: Hard-Boiled Fiction: D. Hammett & R. Chandler, The English Detective Novel: P.D. James
1. Introduction to the History of Detective Stories
2. Hard-Boiled Fiction
3.1 Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961)
3.2 Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)
4. The English Detective Novel
4.1 P.D. James (1920-2014)
5. Didactic Appendix
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography
The origins of current detective stories are to be found in the mystery novels of the Gothic tradition in the 18th century, which were full of mysterious, supernatural events and an atmosphere of horror. In the 19th century, the detective genre emerged and the stories were based on reason and objective inquiry. This is because science developed and promoted logical thinking. This fiction was very popular for various reasons: a wider divulgation of real crime cases, the development of criminal investigation, and the belief in the supremacy of reason.
E.A. Poe, with The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), set the formula for the detective story, whose main elements are:
- The perfect crime
- The wrongly accused suspect
- The incapacity of the police
- The intellectual superiority of an independent investigator
- The logical process to solve the mystery
In the late 19th century, Doyle inaugurated with Sherlock Holmes a new period of detective story and introduced some innovations:
- Modern technical devices in investigation
- The detective has their own moral code
- There is a balance between mystery and adventure
The Golden Age of detective stories is the 1930s. In the USA, hard-boiled fiction emerged, which was opposed to the classic English detective story. Unlike English mystery fiction, these stories were tough and unsentimental, written with a tone of realism. They portrayed a sordid urban background and included slangy dialogs.
Its main features are:
- Crime is seen as an unavoidable daily event
- Feeling that justice doesn’t exist
- Power of money and violence
- The reasons for crime are in the base of society
- Detectives are rude, violent, and socially rejected, and have a strong sense of reality
- Rhythm is fast, with condensed, slangy dialogs
This kind of fiction was very popular and adapted to films. In the next section, we will analyze the style and works of the fathers of the genre.
3.1 Dashiell Hammett
He started his literary career writing short stories for pulp magazines, and he would later produce novels, such as The Maltese Falcon (1930), his finest work. He also created many characters for his novels, for instance:
- Sam Spade, the prototypical hard-boiled detective. He is tough, intelligent, and cynical. He even uses violence if necessary. Sam is the main character of The Maltese Falcon (1930), A Man Called Spade (1932), and They Can Hang You Once (1932).
- Continental Op, whose real name is never revealed. He is an agent of the Army Secret Service and has his own personal ethic code. He appears in Red Harvest (1929) and The Dain Curse (1929).
- Nick and Nora Charles, who are husband and wife and get involved in mysteries they try to solve, providing some sarcastic comedy.
Now we’ll focus on his two finest works, Red Harvest and The Maltese Falcon. Red Harvest is narrated by Continental Op in the first person, and it’s a story of gangsters and corruption. The corrupted high class and politicians are guilty of the amount of crime, so it criticizes social corruption.
The Maltese Falcon is narrated in the third person, with an unsentimental and amoralistic tone. Spade is the personification of the American private eye, and the novel is a cult for individual defense against social norms.
To conclude, we must recognize Hammett’s importance in the development of the hard-boiled story, which has given entertainment and pleasure to plenty of readers for years.
3.2 Raymond Chandler
Chandler started writing stories for pulp magazines too. He worked as a scriptwriter for Paramount studios. He is best known for his private eye Philip Marlowe, the main character of most of his novels. He was the typical American private eye, but more realistic and romantic. He is honest and distinguishes two types of crime: organized crime of the high class and the poors’ crime, a consequence of social injustice.
Chandler took a new approach to hard-boiled fiction. In his novels, the hero struggles to maintain moral balance in a corrupted world. Hence, he used the genre to denounce the vices of the time and criticize society.
As for his style, Chandler mixed vernacular slang with poetic diction. He often introduces startling similes, figurative meaning, and dramatic effects, which make his style more complex and elaborate in comparison with other hard-boiled fiction writers.
Finally, the setting of most of his novels is the city of Los Angeles, which is pictured as a center of corruption and crime.
Let us now analyze Chandler’s main works:
The Big Sleep (1939) is a story of extortion and blackmail in which Philip Marlowe gets involved in menacing events. The private eye discovers that under the image of a wealthy family, there is treachery, perversion, and even murder. Marlowe is portrayed as an idealist who is embittered by the decadence of the contemporary world. Therefore, this novel expressed a clear social criticism.
Farewell, My Lovely (1940) has the themes of female duplicity (femme fatale), criminality, and police corruption. It is set in a fictional town with a nice appearance but a corrupt core.
The Long Goodbye (1953) deals with the femme fatale, concretely focusing on the men who have been her victims.
Playback (1958) is his most substantial work. The main theme of this novel is the inescapable past, personified in an enigmatic woman that Marlowe faces. Although her past conceals crime, Marlowe ends up getting engaged to her.
Chandler transformed the hard-boiled genre, from mere problem-solving to cultural inquiry and social criticism.
4. The English Detective Novel
In its origins in the 19th century, the detective novel was regarded as a respectable branch of English literature. However, since the early 20th century, it has been considered an infra-literary subgenre. Nevertheless, the detective novel has been and still is very popular, and we will focus on P.D. James.
4.1 P.D. James
Born in Cambridge, James is an example of a self-educated woman. Her work in hospital administration and in the criminal section of the Department of Home Affairs gave her much material and inspiration for her novels.
Cover Her Face (1962) was her first novel, in which she introduced the detective who would be the main character of most of her works: Adam Dalgliesh, a very realistic professional agent of Scotland Yard. He writes poetry and is a sensitive, intelligent man. In this novel, James describes perfectly well the setting, an Elizabethan manor house, and the medical aspects of crime.
Shroud for a Nightingale (1971) is set in a school of nurses. The novel is beautifully constructed and there’s a superb characterization, which is psychologically concerned and profound. There’s also a perfect balance of mood, pace, and style.
In An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972), the detective is a woman, Cordelia Gray, who solves her first case. This novel also has a strong characterization with great details.
Innocent Blood (1980) mixes different elements of detective fiction: murder, rape, suicide, adultery, and revenge. The heroine here is a young girl who discovers that her origins are different from her expectations. It’s a novel about the search for identity.
To conclude, we must remember that James was a very successful writer who received the recognition of both the public and the critics. Her fundamental belief that life is sacred and murder is uncommon and wrong has made her works a kind of 20th-century morality plays in which values of good and evil are unambiguous.
5. Didactic Appendix
6. Conclusion
Bibliography:
- Abrams, M. et al. (2018). The Norton Anthology of English Literature. London: Norton.
- Carter, R. et al. (2001). The Routledge History of English Literature. London: Routledge.
- Levine, R. (2022). The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: Norton.
- Parini, J. (2004). The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature. Oxford University Press.
LD&C 1: The History of Foreign Language Teaching
1. Current Trends in EFL Methodology
2. The Communicative Approach
2.1 Fundamentals in Foreign Language Teaching
2.2 Approaches and Methods
2.2.1 The Grammar-Translation Method
2.2.2 The Direct Method
2.2.3 The Audiolingual Method
2.2.4 The Cognitive Approach
2.2.5 Humanistic Approaches
2.2.6 Other Trends in Language Teaching
2.2.6.1 Natural Language Learning
2.2.6.2 Task-Based Approach and Project-Based Approach
2.2.6.3 Universal Design for Learning
2.3 The Communicative Approach
2.3.1 Background
2.3.2 Implications
2.3.3 Possibilities and Problems
3. Didactic Appendix
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography
The first attempts to conceptualize second language learning in the 19th century were linked to the teaching of classical languages and thus focused on memorizing and translation. By contrast, the need for a language for international communication in the 20th century led to a re-examination of methods in order to achieve effective communication. Let us analyze the most relevant methods.
2.2.1 The Grammar-Translation Method
Its only contribution to the second language teaching tradition was the focus on grammar rules as the basis. The main features are the use of the mother tongue in class, the extensive explanation of grammar rules, the lists of isolated words, the early reading of difficult texts, and the translation of decontextualized sentences. Its absolute lack of communication concern makes it not practical for second language teaching.
2.2.2 The Direct Method
The Direct Method was the first attempt to make the language teaching situation that of language use. Among the main features of this method, we can mention the following:
- Emphasis on spoken everyday language, focus on pronunciation
- Avoidance of the mother tongue in class
- Foreign language narratives by the teacher
- Grammar is learned inductively
This method has been considered unrealistic as it’s difficult to believe that the conditions of native language acquisition can be recreated in a classroom.
2.2.3 The Audiolingual Method
This method originated in America in the 1950s, and its emergence is linked to the so-called Army method. Let us see the main features of this method:
- It’s based on Contrastive Analysis and Behaviorism
- Language learning is seen as a process of habituation, no need for intellectual analysis
- Primacy of oral skills
- Dialogues are the best way to present the language
- Use of language lab technology
- Exercises include repetition, memorization of dialogues, and pattern drills
2.2.4 The Cognitive Approach
This approach emerged in the 1970s and brought the new insights of psycholinguistics to language pedagogy. Learners were considered to have internal representations of the language, and as performance improves, they simplify and gain control over the internal representations. The main features are the following:
- Emphasis on conscious control of the language as a system
- Focus on understanding the structure of the language
- Errors are considered inevitable and should be used constructively
- Less importance is given to pronunciation
- Deductive explanation followed by demonstration of rules
2.2.5 Humanistic Approaches
These approaches of the 1970s were interested in helping students develop as individuals, creating a positive classroom atmosphere. Now I will mention the most important humanistic approaches:
- Community Language Learning: Its aim is to foster strong personal links between the teacher and the students. Students sit in a circle and interact independently, using their mother tongue to be more confident.
- Total Physical Response: It focuses on actions that students must perform (for example, “Simon says”). It stresses the importance of oral comprehension in the first months of learning. Learners are not forced to speak until they are ready to do so. It’s useful for children in Nursery and Primary Education.
- The Silent Way: Method developed by Gattegno in the 1970s. The teacher gives a very limited amount of input so that students’ speaking is the principal activity. They are encouraged to learn from one another. Errors are considered a natural consequence of the learning process and the basis for further practice.
- Suggestopedia: Developed by Lozanov, this method defends that students must feel relaxed and that we should arrange pleasant surroundings with comfortable sitting and soft classical music in order to create hypermnesia (increased powers of the mind). The objective is to foster motivation and self-confidence. Students are given new names to take new identities and the teacher is a guide or facilitator of the communication.
2.2.6 Other Trends in Language Teaching
2.2.6.1 Natural Language Learning
This approach tries to resemble the way children learn their first language and it’s concerned with students’ emotional needs. There is an emphasis on learning vocabulary instead of grammar and books are not used, as students must learn from experience.
2.2.6.2 Task-Based Approach and Project-Based Approach
The Task-Based Approach, widely used by most British Council staff and the basis of the European Framework of Reference for Languages, states that there is no need for formal instruction on grammar for successful learning. Students must perform communicative activities. Hence, teachers must design practical tasks and learners must complete the task.
The Project-Based Approach takes learner-centeredness to a higher level. It makes a task not the focus of a lesson, but of a whole term or academic year, being really motivating as projects bring real life into the classroom. These are the four elements which are common to all Project-Based courses:
- A central topic from which all the activities derive
- Access to means of investigation to collect, analyze, and use information
- Plenty of opportunities for sharing ideas, collaboration, and communication
- A final product
The teacher’s role is monitor and facilitator, helping with language when necessary.
2.2.6.3 Universal Design for Learning
This method offers flexibility in the ways students access material and show what they know, and it also looks for different ways to keep students motivated. The goal of Universal Design for Learning is to use a variety of teaching methods to remove any barriers to learning. It’s based on three main principles:
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Ways to motivate learners and sustain their interest, for example, letting them make choices with a “Reading Choice Menu”, giving assignments that feel relevant to their lives, etc.
- Multiple Means of Representation: Students should be offered information in more than one format. For example, the teacher could provide a worksheet along with audio, video, websites, and so on.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Students should be given more than one way to interact with the material and show what they know. For example, they may choose between making a video or presenting in front of the class.
Once we have offered a view of the most relevant methods in second language teaching, we will now focus on the most influential one: the communicative approach.
2.3 The Communicative Approach
2.3.1 Background
By the late 1960s, a common language for international communication was required. Within the Council of Europe, they designed a scheme for modern language teaching based on a functional-notional approach, the communicative one.
2.3.2 Implications
- Communicative implies semantic: Meaning is divided into notions and functions. Notions are abstract concepts, such as “duration”. Functions are the practical usages of language in interaction (for example, giving orders).
- There is a complex relationship between form and function: A grammatical form can perform a number of communicative functions. The sentence “Give me your address” can be an order or a suggestion for a visit.
- Appropriacy must be considered together with accuracy. For instance, “Shut the door, will you?” is appropriate in a familiar context but not when talking to a stranger.
- Communicative is relevant to all skills. The communicative approach is applicable to both oral and written skills.
- Communication takes us beyond the level of the sentence. Communication is not based on sentence-level criteria but on longer structures. We work at the level of discourse.
- Communicative refers to both language and behavior.
2.3.3 Possibilities and Problems
This approach exposed some interesting points for second language teaching: it includes wider considerations of appropriateness and accuracy, it refers to a wider range of language, it provides realistic practice with authentic materials, and it takes advantage of students’ previous knowledge of functions in their mother tongue.
However, it was also criticized because it is impossible to teach all grammar forms for a particular language function at the same time, it may not be useful for all levels, and it may not be appropriate in all contexts, especially in those where students have few chances to use the second language.
To conclude, focusing on communication doesn’t mean forgetting about grammar: it’s important to engage in communication with language structure.
3. Didactic Appendix
4. Conclusion
Bibliography:
- Hymes, D. (1972). “On communicative competence”. Sociolinguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
- Nunan, D. (2004). Task-Based Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Meyer, A. et al. (2014). Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice. CAST Professional Publishing.