Agatha Christie and the golden age of detective fiction
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Discover the unparalleled popularity of Agatha Christie’s crime fiction and its impact on twentieth-century literature. Explore the evolution of British detective fiction and its relation to Christie’s background, literary modernism, and the development of middlebrow fiction. Gain insights into the key aspects of Christie’s writing and the formal and generic features of ‘golden age’ British detective fiction. Contextualize the rise of detective fiction against literary modernism and new commercial developments in middlebrow writing. Reflect on the enduring popularity and adaptation of detective fiction and crime writing.
When we think of twentieth century literature as a popular
Cultural form, Agatha Christie (1890–1976), Britain’s pre-eminent crime fiction
Author after the First World War, is impossible to ignore. In terms of both the volume
Of sales and translation into other languages (over 100), her work is unparalleled
In the history of publishing. As Charles Rzepka puts it, Christie is ‘not only
The most prolific and popular author of detective fiction in the twentieth
Century, but the world’s best-selling writer, ever’ (a record which remains
Intact at the time of writing). In this free course you’ll examine one of Christie’s most significant works, The
Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), and explore the evolution of British
Detective fiction in relation to Christie’s background, literary modernism and
The development of middlebrow fiction.
This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open
University course A893 MA English Literature Part 1.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
Understand some key aspects of Agatha Christie’s writing
Analyse ‘golden age’ British detective fiction and appreciate its formal and generic features
Contextualise the rise of detective fiction against literary modernism and new commercial developments in middlebrow writing
Reflect on the popularity and continuing adaptation of detective fiction and crime writing.
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