Detective Fiction and the Problem of Knowledge: Perspectives on the Metacognitive Mystery Tale - Hardcover

Detective Fiction and the Problem of Knowledge: Perspectives on the Metacognitive Mystery Tale - Hardcover

$178.18


by Antoine Dechêne (Author)

Back Jacket

This book establishes the genealogy of a subgenre of crime fiction that Antoine Dechêne calls the metacognitive mystery tale. It delineates a corpus of texts presenting 'unreadable' mysteries which, under the deceptively monolithic appearance of subverting traditional detective story conventions, offer a multiplicity of motifs - the overwhelming presence of chance, the unfulfilled quest for knowledge, the urban stroller lost in a labyrinthine text - that generate a vast array of epistemological and ontological uncertainties. Analysing the works of a wide variety of authors, including Edgar Allan Poe, Jorge Luis Borges, and Henry James, this book is vital reading for scholars of detective fiction.

Author Biography

Antoine Dechêne holds a PhD from the Université de Liège, Belgium. His research deals with all aspects of the metaphysical detective story in the USA and in France. He is co-editor with Michel Delville of the first volume dedicated to the genre in French: Le Thriller métaphysique d'Edgar Allan Poe à nos jours (2016).

Number of Pages: 347
Dimensions: 0.81 x 8.27 x 5.83 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: September 14, 2018
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Estimated delivery: June 13 - June 16, 2026

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