1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910820858103321

Titolo

Feminism in women's detective fiction / / edited by Glenwood Irons

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 1995

©1995

ISBN

1-4426-5563-1

1-4426-2308-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (217 p.)

Collana

Heritage

Disciplina

823.0872099287

Soggetti

Detective and mystery stories, English - History and criticism

Detective and mystery stories, American - History and criticism

Feminism and literature - English-speaking countries - History - 20th century

Women and literature |zEnglish-speaking countries |xHistory|y20th century - English-speaking countries - History - 20th century

American fiction - Women authors - History and criticism

English fiction - Women authors - History and criticism

Feminist fiction, American - History and criticism

Feminist fiction, English - History and criticism

History

Detective and mystery stories, English

Detective and mystery stories, American

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Detective and mystery stories, EnglishHistory and criticism

Detective and mystery stories, AmericanHistory and criticism

Electronic books.

English-speaking countries

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction. Gender and genre : the woman detective and the diffusion of generic voices -- Amelia Butterworth : the spinster detective / Joan Warthling Roberts -- The detective heroine and the death of her hero :



Dorothy Sayers to P.D. James / SueEllen Campbell -- Gray areas : P.D. James's unsuiting of Cordelia / Nicola Nixon -- Questing women : the feminist mystery after feminism / Sandra Tomc -- From spinster to hipster : the 'suitability' of Miss Marple and Anna Lee / Glenwood Irons and Joan Warthling Roberts -- Nancy Drew : the once and future prom queen / Bobbie Ann Mason -- Feminist murder : Amanda Cross reinvents womanhood / Jeanne Addison Roberts -- Murders academic : women professors and the crimes of gender / Susan J. Leonardi -- Talkin' trash and kickin' butt : Sue Grafton's hard-boiled feminism / Scott Christianson -- The female dick and the crisis of heterosexuality / Ann Wilson -- 'Friends is a weak word for it': female friendship and the spectre of lebianism in Sara Paretsky / Rebecca A. Pope -- Habeass corpus: feminism and detective fiction / Kathleen Gregory Klein.

Sommario/riassunto

Names such as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Sam Spade are perhaps better known than the names of the authors who created them. The woman detective has also had worldwide appeal; yet, with the exception of Christie's Miss Marple, the names of female detectives and their authors have only recently gained wide attention through the popularity of Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton, and Sara Paretsky.The essays in this collection grapple with a wide range of issues important to the female sleuth - the most important, perhaps, being the oft-heard challenge to her suitability for the job. Not surprisingly, gender issues are the main focus of all the essays; indeed, in detective novels with a woman protagonist, these issues are often right at the surface.Some of the papers see the female sleuth as an important force in popular fiction, but many also challenge the notion that the woman detective is a positive model for feminists. They argue that fictional female sleuths have lost the `otherness' that a feminine approach to the genre should encourage. Collectively, the essays also reveal the differences between British and American perspectives on the woman detective.