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| Semester | fall semester 2015 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Peter Robert Burleigh (p.burleigh@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Murder, malevolence, mystery: as a genre which envelops various symbolic orders, reflects aspects of our cultural world, and measures rights and wrongs, crime writing has a deep impact on the social. In this seminar, we will first consider the appearance of the crime story in Poe, and then follow how the genre develops along differing strands, especially focusing on Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler. These readings will be informed by scientific approaches to detection and observation (including such key figures as Diamond, Dalton and Bertillon), as well as measured against visual media such as the photographer Weegee or the New American colourists, and compared to film renderings of crime. We will also consider the material culture of detective fictional worlds especially their extension into film and TV. |
| Learning objectives | Students will learn about the basics of crime genre. Students will be able to contextualize notions related to fictional crime against contemporary social structures. The analysis of material fictional worlds will suggest how crime is embedded in our understanding of the human. |
| Bibliography | These are the titles we will read: please make sure to read the Poe short stories, and the novel, The Woman in White BEFORE the course starts. The remaining literature will be addressed from week 6 of the term, so you may also like to read these works before we start or in the first few weeks of term. There will be the two films we consider and the Columbo series, too. These should also be watched in your own time. Columbo episodes will be notified at the beginning of the course. The Purloined Letter (Edgar Allan Poe, 1844) The Murders in the Rue Morgue (Edgar Allan Poe, 1841) The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins, 1859) The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual (Arthur Conan Doyle, 1893) The Adventure of the Dancing Men (Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandler,1939) (as film, Howard Hawks, 1946) And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie, 1939) Chinatown (Film, Roman Polanski, 1974) Columbo (TV series, 1968-2003) |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | This seminar is for BA students on the advanced level: for BA05 students those who have completed their proseminar paper in Literary & Cultural Studies; for BA13 students those who have completed ALL three introductory modules (including the proseminar papers). |
| Course application | Please register by e-mail to alex.van-lierde@unibas.ch. The number of participants is limited to 24. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Modul Extending the View (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) Modul Focusing on the Discipline (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: English (Start of studies before 01.08.2013)) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Assessment will include minute taking, short individual presentations, and a short written response to one aspect of the course. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |