Free Downloads Detecting Texts: The Metaphysical Detective Story From Poe To Postmodernism
Although readers of detective fiction ordinarily expect to learn the mystery's solution at the end, there is another kind of detective story—the history of which encompasses writers as diverse as Poe, Borges, Robbe-Grillet, Auster, and Stephen King—that ends with a question rather than an answer. The detective not only fails to solve the crime, but also confronts insoluble mysteries of interpretation and identity. As the contributors to Detecting Texts contend, such stories belong to a distinct genre, the "metaphysical detective story," in which the detective hero's inability to interpret the mystery inevitably casts doubt on the reader's similar attempt to make sense of the text and the world.Detecting Texts includes an introduction by the editors that defines the metaphysical detective story and traces its history from Poe's classic tales to today's postmodernist experiments. In addition to the editors, contributors include Stephen Bernstein, Joel Black, John T. Irwin, Jeffrey T. Nealon, and others.
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (December 1, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0812216768
ISBN-13: 978-0812216769
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.7 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #955,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #124 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Postmodernism #179 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Genres & Styles > Mystery & Detective #184 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Reference
Detecting Texts is a wonderful resource for those interested in the metaphysical detective story. It contains some of the most insightful essays I have ever read on the subject. The essays in this book provided me with excellent raw materials for my essays and ideas. Thank you to all the contributors for providing such innovative ideas on a relatively new literary genre.
This is an excellent index of critical authorities and brief descriptions of their positions. The authors are concise and the material well summarized.
Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Detecting Texts: The Metaphysical Detective Story from Poe to Postmodernism Inspector Colbeck's Casebook: Thirteen Tales from the Railway Detective (The Railway Detective Series) Pipsie, Nature Detective: The Disappearing Caterpillar (Pipsie, Nature Detective Series) The Metaphysical Club : A Story of Ideas in America Metal Detecting for Kids: An Easy Guide for Finding Buried Treasures With a Metal Detector Metal Detecting: A Beginner's Guide: to Mastering the Greatest Hobby In the World Metal Detecting for the Beginner The Metal Detecting Bible: Helpful Tips, Expert Tricks and Insider Secrets for Finding Hidden Treasures Metal Detecting Gold: A Beginner's Guide to Modern Gold Prospecting Giorgio de Chirico and the Metaphysical City: Nietzsche, Modernism, Paris The Revealing Word: A Dictionary of Metaphysical Terms (Charles Fillmore Reference Library) Doom Patrols: A Theoretical Fiction about Postmodernism (Serpent's Tail High Risk Books) An Introduction To Modern European Literature: From Romanticism to Postmodernism Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 The Quay Brothers: Into a Metaphysical Playroom Reclaiming Female Agency: Feminist Art History after Postmodernism Writing Dancing in the Age of Postmodernism Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in an Empire of Desire
