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War Noir: Raymond Chandler and the Hard-Boiled Detective as Veteran in American Fiction

War Noir: Raymond Chandler and the Hard-Boiled Detective as Veteran in American Fiction - Hardcover

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Availability:In StockContributor:Sarah TrottPublish date:2016-09-22Pages:272
Language:EnglishPublisher:University Press of MississippiISBN-13:9781496808646ISBN-10:1496808649UPC:9781496808646Book Category:Literary CriticismBook Subcategory:American, Mystery & Detective Fiction, ModernBook Topic:20th CenturySize:9.00 x 6.00 x 0.69 inchesWeight:1.1618Product ID:SCK1FD7J1B

Based on Chandler's experience in combat, Trott explains that the writer created detective Philip Marlowe not as the idealization of heroic individualism, as is commonly perceived, but instead as an authentic individual subjected to very real psychological frailties from trauma during the First World War. Inspecting Chandler's work and correspondence indicates that the characterization of the fictional Marlowe goes beyond the traditional chivalric readings and can instead be interpreted as a genuine representation of a traumatized veteran in American society. Substituting the horror of the trenches for the corruption of the city, Chandler formed a disillusioned protagonist in an uncaring America. Chandler did so with the sophistication necessary to straddle genre fiction and canonical literature.

The sum of this work offers a new understanding of how Chandler uses his war trauma, how that experience established the traditional archetype of detective fiction, and how this reading of his fiction enables Chandler to transcend generic limitations and be recognized as a key twentieth-century literary figure.

Language:EnglishPublisher:University Press of MississippiISBN-13:9781496808646ISBN-10:1496808649UPC:9781496808646Book Category:Literary CriticismBook Subcategory:American, Mystery & Detective Fiction, ModernBook Topic:20th CenturySize:9.00 x 6.00 x 0.69 inchesWeight:1.1618Product ID:SCK1FD7J1B
Sarah Trott is a lecturer in American studies at Swansea University. She has published in the edited collection Men After War and the journal Comparative American Studies.
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi

Contributor(s)

Sarah Trott

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