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Material Type: | Thesis/dissertation |
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Document Type: | Book |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Hervé Wattez; Bernard Toulet; Université de Limoges. |
OCLC Number: | 799127306 |
Notes: | 1986LIMO0501. |
Description: | 170 f., [2] f. d'ill. ; 30 cm. |
Responsibility: | Hervé Wattez ; sous la direction de Bernard Toulet. |
Abstract:
THE MYTH OF THE PRIVATE EYE TENDS TO DISTORT OUR VIEW OF THE CHARACTER THAT WAS CREATED BY HAMMETT AND CHANDLER, THE FOUNDERS OF THE "HARD-BOILED" DETECTIVE STORY. THE PRIVATE EYE HAS A DOUBLE ORIGIN : HE IS BOTH SHERLOCK HOLMES AND NICK CARTER. HIS METHODS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE TRADITIONAL DETECTIVE'S IN SO FAR AS REASON AND LOGIC ARE NO LONGER HIS FAVOURITE WEAPONS. HE RESORTS TO ACTION AND TO THE POKER-PLAYER'S INTUITION. THE PLOT IS NO LONGER ESSENTIAL. NO "SOLUTION" CAN BE FOUND IN HAMMETT'S AND CHANDLER'S NOVELS. THE PORTRAIT OF THE PRIVATE EYE BRINGS INTO LIGHT BOTH HIS "ANTI-HERO" ASPECT, HIS CYNICAL POSE AND THE IDEALISM THAT THE POSE IS MEANT TO HIDE. HE RESEMBLES HEMINGWAY'S TOUGH GUY WHOSE MISOGYNY HE SHARES. HIS SOCIAL ROLE IS UNEQUIVOCALLY REACTIONARY SINCE HE CONTRIBUTES TO MAINTAINING THE SOCIAL STATUS QUO BY PRESERVING THE RULING CLASSES' RESPECTABILITY. HAMMETT AND CHANDLER PROVIDE US WITH A "REALISTIC" VISION OF AMERICAN SOCIETY. CONSEQUENTLY, THEY BROACH THEMES WHICH USED TO BE RESERVED FOR "SERIOUS" LITERATURE. THE QUALITY OF THEIR STYLE SET THEM APART FROM THE WRITERS OF ESCAPE LITERATURE. HAMMETT CREATED A STYLE WHOSE MAIN FEATURE WAS BALDNESS. INFLUENCED BY BEHAVIORISM, HAMMETT DESCRIBES BEHAVIOURS AND RESORTS TO AN "EXTERNAL" TECHNIQUE. FOR A TIME, CHANDLER WAS HIS "DISCIPLE" BUT GRADUALLY HE ABANDONED HAMMETT'S TECHNIQUE WHICH NO LONGER SUITED HIM. FOR THE CHARACTER OF THE PRIVATE EYE HAS EVOLVED FROM THE CONTINENTAL OP TO PHILIP MARLOWE. SUCH AN EVOLUTION CAN BE ACCOUNTED FOR BY CHANDLER'S BACKGROUND AND PERSONALITY BUT THE EVOLUTION OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS MUST ALSO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. HAMMETT WROTE MOST OF HIS BOOKS DURING THE PROSPERITY WHEREAS CHANDLER WROTE HIS AFTER THE GREAT DEPRESSION. THE CHIVALROUS AND ALTRUISTIC MARLOWE SUCCEEDED TO THE CYNICAL CONTINENTAL OP. A SIMILAR EVOLUTION IS TO BE FOUND IN HEMINGWAY'S TOUGH GUYS.
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