Detective. What it is? How did the detective genre appear in Russian literature? Detective as a genre of mass literature

Detect́ in(English. Detective, from Lat. Detego - reveal, exposing) - mainly literary and cinematic genre, whose works describe the process of studying the mysterious incident in order to clarify its circumstances and disclosure of the riddles. Usually, the crime is as such an incident, and the detective describes its investigation and the definition of those responsible, in which case the conflict is built on a collision of justice with lawlessness, the end of the victory of justice.

1 definition

2 Features of the genre

3 typical characters

4 History of detective

5 Twenty Rules for Writing Detectives

6 Ten Commandments of the detective novel Ronald Knox

7 Some types of detectives

7.1 Detective closed type

7.2 Psychological detective

7.3 Historical detective

7.4 Ironic detective

7.5 Fantastic detective

7.6 Political detective

7.7 Spy Detective

7.8 Police detective

7.9 "Cool" Detective

7.10 Criminal detective

8 detective in the movie

8.1 Aphorisms about a detective

The main sign of a detective as a genre - the presence of a certain mysterious incident, the circumstances of which are unknown and should be clarified. The most frequently described incident is a crime, although there are detectives in which events that are not criminal (so, in the "notes about Sherlock Holmes" are definitely related to the genru of a detective, in five stories from eighteen crimes no crimes).

An essential feature of a detective is that the actual circumstances of the incident are not communicated to the reader, in any case, in its entirety, until the completion of the investigation. Instead, the reader is carried out by the author through the investigation process, getting the opportunity to build its own versions at each stage and evaluate the well-known facts. If the work initially describes all the details of the incident, or the incident does not contain anything unusual, mysterious, then it should be attributed not to a pure detective, but to relatives genres (action, police romance, etc.).

Features of the genre

Important property of a classic detective - fullness of facts. The simplicity of secrecy cannot be based on the information that was not provided to the reader during the description of the investigation. By the time when the investigation ends, the reader must have enough information in order to find a solution on its independently. Only separate minor details may be hidden, which are not affecting the possibility of disclosure of secrecy. Upon completion of the investigation, all the riddles must be solved, the answers found on all issues.

A few more signs of a classic detective in the aggregate were named by N. N. Wolish hyperdeterminism of the world detective ("The world of detective is much more ordered than the life around us"):

Overallity of the situation. The conditions in which the detective events occur are generally common and well known to the reader (in any case, the reader himself believes that they are confidently oriented). Thanks to this reader, it is originally obvious that from the described is usual, and what is a strange leaving outside.

The stereotype of the behavior of characters. The characters are largely devoid of originality, their psychology and behavioral models are quite transparent, predictable, and if they have any sharply distinguished features, they become known to the reader. Also stereotypes of the motives of actions (including the motives of crime) characters.

The existence of a priori rules for building a plot, not always relevant real life. So, for example, in a classic detective, a narrator and a detective can not be criminals in principle.

This set of features narrows the field of possible logical constructions based on well-known facts, making their analysis to the reader. However, not all the subgenies detective are exactly followed by these rules.

Another limitation is noted, which almost always follows a classic detective - the inadmissibility of random errors and unbearable coincidences. For example, in real life, a witness can tell the truth, can lie, may be mistaken or be misleading, but maybe simply unmotivated to be mistaken (accidentally confuse the dates, sums, surnames). In a detective, the last opportunity is excluded - a witness is either accurate or lies, or his mistake has a logical justification.

Eremey Parns indicates the following features of the classical detective genre:

the reader of the detective is offered a complicity in a kind of game - the raystery of the mystery or the name of the criminal;

"Gothic exotic" - with an infernal monkey, ancestor of both genres (fiction and detective) Edgar software, with blue carbuncule and tropical viper Conan Doyle, from the Indian moonstone Willow Collins and ending with the Lone Castles of Agatha Christie and Corpse in Charles Snow, Western Detective is extremely exotic. In addition, it is pathologically committed to the Gothic novel (medieval castle - the favorite frames on which bloody dramas are played).

schematic -

Unlike scientific fiction, the detective is often written only for the sake of a detective, that is, the detective! In other words, the criminal adjusts its bloody activity under the detective, just as an experienced playwright caresses roles under specific actors.

from these rules there is one exception - so on. "Inverted detective."

Typical characters

The detective is directly involved. Different people can act as a detective: law enforcement officials, private detectives, relatives, friends, acquaintances of victims, sometimes - completely casual people. The detective cannot be a criminal. Figure of the detective - central in a detective.

A professional secret is a law enforcement officer. It may be an expert of a very high level, and maybe - and the usual, what a lot, police officer. In the second case, in difficult situations, it is sometimes referred to as advice to a consultant (see below).

Private detective - for him, the investigation of crimes is the main job, but it does not serve in the police, although it may be a policeman retired. As a rule, it has extremely high qualifications, active and energetic. Most often, a private detective becomes a central figure, and for emphasising its performance, professional detectives that constantly make mistakes can be administered to provocate the criminal, stand on a false trace and suspected innocent. The opposition "lone hero against the bureaucratic organization and its officials" is used, in which the sympathies of the author and the reader are on the side of the hero.

The amateur detective is the same as a private detective, with the only difference that the investigation of crimes for him is not a profession, but a hobby, to which he refers only from time to time. A separate subspecies of the amateur detective is a random person who has never been engaged in such activities, but forced to conduct an investigation into the virtue of the urgent need, for example, to save the unfairly accused of a loved one or to take suspicion of herself (which is such the main characters of all the novels of Dick Francis). The amateur detective brings the investigation into the reader, allows him to create the impression that "I could also figure it out." One of the conventions of the series of detectives with amateur detectives (like Miss Marple) - in real life a person, if he is not engaged in investigating crimes professionally, it is unlikely to meet such a number of crimes and mysterious incidents.

The offender - commits a crime, traces removes, is trying to counteract the consequence. In a classic detective, the figure of the criminal is clearly denoted only at the end of the investigation, until this point the criminal can be a witness suspected or victim. Sometimes the actions of the criminal are described in the course of basic action, but in such a way as not to disclose his personality and do not inform the reader of information that could not be obtained during the investigation from other sources.

The victim - the one against whom the crime is directed or the one who suffered as a result of a mysterious incident. One of the standard options for the detection of detective - the victim himself turns out to be a criminal.

The witness is a person who has any information about the investigation. The criminal is often first shown in the description of the investigation as one of the witnesses.

The detective companion is a person who is constantly in contact with the detective, participating in the investigation, but not possessing the abilities and knowledge of the detective. It can provide technical assistance in the investigation, but his main task is more convex to show the outstanding demands of the detective against the background of the average level of an ordinary person. In addition, the companion is needed to ask the detective questions and listen to his explanations, giving the reader the opportunity to trace the course of the thieves' thoughts and paying attention to the individual moments that the reader himself could miss. Classic examples of such companions - Dr. Watson at Conan Doyle and Arthur Hastings from Agatha Christie.

A consultant is a person who has pronounced abilities to conduct an investigation, but he himself is not directly involved. In detectives, where a separate figure of the consultant is highlighted, it may be the main (for example, a journalist xenophon in the detective stories of Viktor Pronin), and may be simply an episodically adviser (for example, a detective teacher to whom he treats help).

Assistant - does not investigate himself, but provides a detective and / or consultant information that produces himself. For example, an expert criminalist.

Suspected - in the course of the investigation, arises an assumption that it was he who committed a crime. Suspected authors come in different ways, one of the often practiced principles - "None of the immediately suspected is a real criminal," that is, anyone who falls under suspicion is innocent, and the real criminal is the one who has not been suspected by anything . However, not all authors follow this principle. In the detectives of Agatha Christie, for example, Miss Marple repeatedly says that "in life it is usually the one who suspected the first, and there is a criminal."

The main sign of a detective as a genre - the presence of a certain mysterious incident, the circumstances of which are unknown and should be clarified. The most frequently described incident is a crime, although there are detectives in which events that are not criminal (so, in the "notes about Sherlock Holmes" are definitely related to the genru of a detective, in five stories from eighteen crimes no crimes).

An essential feature of a detective is that the actual circumstances of the incident are not communicated to the reader, in any case, in its entirety, until the completion of the investigation. Instead, the reader is carried out by the author through the investigation process, getting the opportunity to build its own versions at each stage and evaluate the well-known facts. If the work initially describes all the details of the incident, or the incident does not contain anything unusual, mysterious, then it should be attributed not to a pure detective, but to relatives genres (action, police romance, etc.).

Features of the genre

Important property of a classic detective - fullness of facts. The simplicity of secrecy cannot be based on the information that was not provided to the reader during the description of the investigation. By the time when the investigation ends, the reader must have enough information in order to find a solution on its independently. Only separate minor details may be hidden, which are not affecting the possibility of disclosure of secrecy. Upon completion of the investigation, all the riddles must be solved, the answers found on all issues.

A few more signs of a classic detective in the aggregate were named by N. N. Volsky hypereminism of the world of detective ("The world of detective is significantly more ordered than life around us"):

• Overallity of the situation. The conditions in which the detective events occur are generally common and well known to the reader (in any case, the reader himself believes that they are confidently oriented). Thanks to this reader, it is originally obvious that from the described is usual, and what is a strange leaving outside.
• The stereotype of the behavior of characters. The characters are largely devoid of originality, their psychology and behavioral models are quite transparent, predictable, and if they have any sharply distinguished features, they become known to the reader. Also stereotypes of the motives of actions (including the motives of crime) characters.
• The existence of a priori rules for building a plot, not always relevant real life. So, for example, in a classic detective, a narrator and a detective can not be criminals in principle.

This set of features narrows the field of possible logical constructions based on well-known facts, making their analysis to the reader. However, not all the subgenies detective are exactly followed by these rules.

Another limitation is noted, which almost always follows a classic detective - the inadmissibility of random errors and unbearable coincidences. For example, in real life, a witness can tell the truth, can lie, may be mistaken or be misleading, but maybe simply unmotivated to be mistaken (accidentally confuse the dates, sums, surnames). In a detective, the last opportunity is excluded - a witness is either accurate or lies, or his mistake has a logical justification.

Eremey Parns indicates the following features of the classic detective genre:

Typical characters

• The detective is directly involved. Different people can act as a detective: law enforcement officials, private detectives, relatives, friends, acquaintances of victims, sometimes - completely casual people. The detective cannot be a criminal. Figure of the detective - central in a detective.
  • A professional secret is a law enforcement officer. It may be an expert of a very high level, and maybe - and the usual, what a lot, police officer. In the second case, in difficult situations, it is sometimes referred to as advice to a consultant (see below).
  • Private detective - for him, the investigation of crimes is the main job, but it does not serve in the police, although it may be a policeman retired. As a rule, it has extremely high qualifications, active and energetic. Most often, a private detective becomes a central figure, and for emphasising its performance, professional detectives that constantly make mistakes can be administered to provocate the criminal, stand on a false trace and suspected innocent. The opposition "lone hero against the bureaucratic organization and its officials" is used, in which the sympathies of the author and the reader are on the side of the hero.
  • The amateur detective is the same as a private detective, with the only difference that the investigation of crimes for him is not a profession, but a hobby, to which he refers only from time to time. A separate subspecies of the amateur detective is a random person who has never been engaged in such activities, but forced to conduct an investigation into the virtue of the urgent need, for example, to save the unfairly accused of a loved one or to take suspicion of herself (which is such the main characters of all the novels of Dick Francis). The amateur detective brings the investigation into the reader, allows him to create the impression that "I could also figure it out." One of the conventions of the series of detectives with amateur detectives (like Miss Marple) - in real life a person, if he is not engaged in investigating crimes professionally, it is unlikely to meet such a number of crimes and mysterious incidents.
• The offender - commits a crime, traces removes, is trying to counteract the consequence. In a classic detective, the figure of the criminal is clearly denoted only at the end of the investigation, until this point the criminal can be a witness suspected or victim. Sometimes the actions of the criminal are described in the course of basic action, but in such a way as not to disclose his personality and do not inform the reader of information that could not be obtained during the investigation from other sources.
• The victim - the one against whom the crime is directed or the one who suffered as a result of a mysterious incident. One of the standard options for the detection of detective - the victim himself turns out to be a criminal.
• The witness is a person who has any information about the investigation. The criminal is often first shown in the description of the investigation as one of the witnesses.
• The detective companion is a person who is constantly in contact with the detective, participating in the investigation, but not possessing the abilities and knowledge of the detective. It can provide technical assistance in the investigation, but his main task is more convex to show the outstanding demands of the detective against the background of the average level of an ordinary person. In addition, the companion is needed to ask the detective questions and listen to his explanations, giving the reader the opportunity to trace the course of the thieves' thoughts and paying attention to the individual moments that the reader himself could miss. Classic examples of such companions - Dr. Watson at Conan Doyle and Arthur Hastings from Agatha Christie.
• A consultant is a person who has pronounced abilities to conduct an investigation, but he himself is not directly involved. In detectives, where a separate figure of the consultant is highlighted, it may be the main (for example, a journalist xenophon in the detective stories of Viktor Pronin), and may be simply an episodically adviser (for example, a detective teacher to whom he treats help).
• Assistant - does not investigate himself, but provides a detective and / or consultant information that produces himself. For example, an expert criminalist.
• Suspected - in the course of the investigation, arises an assumption that it was he who committed a crime. Suspected authors come in different ways, one of the often practiced principles - "None of the immediately suspected is a real criminal," that is, anyone who falls under suspicion is innocent, and the real criminal is the one who has not been suspected by anything . However, not all authors follow this principle. In the detectives of Agatha Christie, for example, Miss Marple repeatedly says that "in life it is usually the one who suspected the first, and there is a criminal."

History of detective

The first works of the detective genre are usually considered the stories of Edgar software written in the 1840s, but the elements of the detective were used by many authors and earlier. For example, in the Roman William Onewine (-) "Adventures of Caleb Williams" () One of the central heroes is a lover-owner. The "Notes" of E. Vokka, published in. However, the Edgar software created, according to Eremee, Parnova, the first great detective - an amateur-amateur duben from the story "Murder on Morg Street". Dupin later gave rise to Sherlock Holmes and Patera Brown (Chesterton), Lekok (Gaborio) and Mr. Kuffa (Willow Collins). It was Edgar that introduced a detective idea of \u200b\u200brivalry in the disclosure of a crime between a private detective and the official police, in which private detective, as a rule, takes the top.

The detective genre becomes popular in England after the exit of the Romanov W. Collins "Woman in White" () and "Moonstone" (). In the novels "Hand Wilder" () and "Shah and Mat" () of the Irish writer Sh. Le Faly Detective combined with the Gothic novel. The golden age of a detective in England is considered the 30th - 70s. 20th century. It is at this time that classic detective novels of Agatha Christie, F. Biding and other authors who have influenced the development of the genre as a whole are published.

The founder of the French detective is E. Gaborio - the author of the Romanov series about the detective lex. Stevenson sulfilled Gaborio in his detective stories (especially in Brilliant Raji).

Twenty Rules for Writing Detectives

In 1928, English writer Willard Hattington, a more famous pseudonym Stephen Van Dyan, published his arch of literary rules, calling it "20 rules for writing detectives":

1. It is necessary to provide the reader with a detective opportunity to unravel the secretions, for which it clearly and accurately reports about all the amazing traces.

2. Only such tricks and deceptions are allowed against the reader, which can apply the criminal in relation to the detective.

3. Love is forbidden. The story should be a play in the stains not between lovers, but between the detective and the criminal.

4. Neither a detective, nor other professionally dealing with a person who cannot be a criminal.

5. The exposure must be logical conclusions. Casual or unreasonable confessions are disabilities.

6. In a detective, there can be no detective, which methodically wanted the ending evidence, as a result of which comes to solving the riddles.

7. Mandatory crime in a detective - murder.

8. In solving the specified mystery, all supernatural forces and circumstances should be eliminated.

9. Only one detective can act in history - the reader cannot compete at once with three-four members of the relay team.

10. The criminal must be one of the most or less significant actors well known to the reader.

11. In dismissal cheap solution, in which the criminal is one of the servants.

12. Although the criminal may have an accomplice, basically the story should talk about the capture of one person.

13. There is no place in a detective to be secret or criminal communities.

14. The method of committing the murder and the methodology of the investigation should be reasonable and reasonable from a scientific point of view.

15. For an intelligent reader, the attenuation must be apparent.

16. In a business, there is no place for the literature, descriptions of painstakingly designed characters, solving the situation with the means of fiction.

17. The criminal in no way can be a professional villain.

19. The motive of the crime is always a private nature, he cannot be a spy action flavored by any international intrigues, motives of secret services.

The decade that followed the promulgation of the conditions of the Van Dine convention, finally discredited the detective as a genre of literature. It is not by chance that we know the preceding era detectives well and each time we appeal to their experience. But hardly we can, without climbing the directories, call the names of the figures from the clan "Twenty Rules". Modern Western Detective developed in spite of Van Dain, refuting the point over the point, overcoming the limitation sudden from the finger. One paragraph (a detective should not be a criminal!), However, he survived, although it was disturbed several times the cinema. This is a reasonable ban, because it protects the very specifics of a detective, the rod line ... In the modern novel, we will not see the traces of the "Rules" ...

Ten commandments of the detective novel Ronald Knox

Also, Ronald Knox, one of the founders of the Detective Club, proposed its own rules for the Scriptures of detective.

I. The criminal must be someone mentioned at the beginning of the novel, but they should not be a person, behind the move of whose thoughts the reader was allowed to follow.

II. As a matter of course, the action of supernatural or otherworked forces is eliminated.

III. It is not allowed to use more than one secret room or a secret stroke.

IV. It is unacceptable to use more than unknown poisons, as well as devices requiring a long scientific explanation at the end of the book.

V. In the work should not appear the Chinese.

Vi. Detective should never help a happy case; It should not be guided by the scoreless, but faithful intuition.

VII. The detective should not be a criminal himself.

VIII. Intruting at a particular key to a randering, the detective is obliged to immediately submit it to study the reader.

IX. A silly friend of detective, Watson in one or another appearance, should not hide any of the considerations coming to his head; In his mental abilities, he must give up a little - but only a little bit - the average reader.

X. Indistent twin brothers and in general, twins cannot appear in the novel, if the reader is properly prepared for this.

Some types of detectives

Detective closed type

Podzhanr, usually the most strictly corresponding canons of a classic detective. The plot is built on the investigation of the crime committed in a secluded place where there is a strictly limited set of characters. There may be no one in this place in this place, so the crime could be committed only by someone from those present. The investigation is conducted by some of the crime in the place of the crime with the help of other heroes.

This type of detective is distinguished by the fact that the plot in principle excludes the need to search for an unknown criminal. The suspects are evident, and the work of the detective is to get about the participants of the events as many information as possible, on the basis of which it will be possible to identify the criminal. Additional psychological tension is created by the fact that someone from those who are usually not similar to the criminal should be a criminal. Sometimes in a closed type detective, a whole series of crimes occurs (usually killings), as a result of which the number of suspects is constantly declining. Examples of closed-type detectives:

• Siril Heir, "Pure English Murder."
• Agatha Christie, "Ten Negreat", "Murder in Eastern Express".
• Boris Akunin, Leviathan (the author signed as a "hermetic detective").
• Leonid Slok, "Additional arrives at the second way."

Psychological detective

This type of detective can somewhat retreat from classic canons in terms of the requirement of stereotypical behavior and typical psychology of heroes. Usually the crime committed on personal motives (envy, revenge), and the main element of the investigation becomes the study of the personal characteristics of suspects, their attachments, pain points, beliefs, prejudice, finding out the past. There is a school of a French psychological detective.

• Dostoevsky, Fedor, "Crime and Punishment."
• Baooo - Narszhak, "Wolf", "that that was not", "Sea Gate", "Heart S Testa".
• Zaprizo, Sebastien, "Lady in glasses and a gun in the car."
• Calef, Noel, "Elevator on Eshafot".
• Boll, John, "Stuffy Night in Carolina."

Historical detective

Main article: Historical detective

Historical work with detective intrigue. The action takes place in the past, or an old crime is investigated in this.

• Bahoo-Narszhak "In the Enchanted Forest"
• Quen, Eller "Unknown Manuscript Dr. Watson"
• Boris Akunin, literary project "Adventures of Erast Fandorin"
• Leonid Yuzfovich, literary project about Putilin's detective
• Alexander Bushkov, Adventure Alexey Bestumev

Ironic detective

A detective investigation is described from a humorous point of view. Often, works written in such a way are paroding and ridiculous stamps of a detective novel.

• Warsaw, Ilya, "Robbery will occur at midnight"
• Kaganov, Leonid, "Major Bogdir saves money"
• Kozachinsky, Alexander, "Green Van"
• Westlake, Donald, "Cursed Emerald" ( Hot pebble), "Bank, which bullied"
• John Khmelevskaya (most works)
• Daria Dontsova (all works)
• ENE Retehe (all works)

Fantastic detective

Works at the junction of fiction and detective. The action can occur in the future, alternatively real or past, as well as in a fully fictional world.

• Lem, Stanislav, "Investigation", "Inquiry"
• Russell, Eric Frank, "everyday work", "wasp"
• Holm van bunny, cycle "There are no bad people"
• Cyrus Bulychev, the cycle "Intergalactic police" ("Intergpole")
• Aizek Azimov, Lakki Starr - Space Ranger, Detective Elaider Bailey and Robot Deniel olivo
• John Branner, squares of a chess city (eng. THE SQUARES OF THE CITY; Russian translation - )
• Brothers Strugatsky, Hotel "At the deceased mountaineer"
• Cook, Glenn, cycle of fantasy detectives about the detective Garrete
• Randall Garrett, fantasy-detective cycle about the detective Lord Darcy
• Boris Akunin "Children's Book"
• Clover, Daniel, Cycle Fantox-detectives "Magic Cause"
• Harry Tortdav - Case of Dump Toxic Spells

Political detective

One of the quite distant from the classic genre detective. The main intrigue is built around political events and rivalry between various political or business leaders and forces. It is also often that the protagonist itself is far from politics, however, investigating the case, stumps on an obstacle to the investigation from the "Power of People" or reveals any conspiracy. A distinctive feature of a political detective is (although it is not necessary) the possible absence of fully positive heroes, except the main one. This genre is infrequently found in its pure form, however, it may be part of the work.

• Levashov, Victor, "Patriot Conspiracy"
• Adam Hall, "Berlin Memorandum" (Memorandum of Quiller)
• Fletcher Nibel, "Seven Days in May"
• Nikolay Svadin, "Hunt for the Tsar", "Demon of the Criminal World"

Spy detective

It is based on the narrative of the activities of intelligence, spies and saboteurs in both military and peacetime on the "invisible front". According to stylistic boundaries, very close to political and conspiracy detectives is often combined in the same work. The main difference between a spy detective from the political is that in a political detective, the most important position is occupied by the political basis of the investigated business and antagonistic conflicts, attention is acted in spyware at intelligence work (surveillance, sabotage, etc.). Conspirological detective can be considered a variety and spyware, and a political detective

• Agatha Christie, "Cat among pigeons"
• John Bointon Priestley, "Maggred over Gretley" (1942)
• James Grady, "Six Days of Condor"
• Dmitry Medvedev, "It was at exactly"
• Nikolay Dalekiy, "Practice Sergey Rubtsova"

Police detective

The work of the team of professionals is described. In the works of this type, the main hero of the detective is either absent or only slightly higher in its value in comparison with the other team members. In terms of the reliability of the plot, the most closely close to reality and, accordingly, the most deviated from the canons of the genre of a pure detective (a professional routine is described in detail with details that are not directly related to the plot, there is a significant proportion of accidents and coincidences, the presence of informants in A criminal and inhoprestal environment, the criminal often remains unnamed and unknown to the very end of the investigation, and may also leave punishment due to the negligence of the investigation or lack of direct evidence).

• Schwall and Valen, the cycle of novels about the employees of the Department of Investigation of the Killings led by Martin Beck
• Julian Semenov, Petrovka, 38, "Ogareva, 6"
• Kiwin, Andrei Vladimirovich, "Nightmare on Stachek Street" and subsequent works.

"Cool" detective

It is described most often a detective single, a man of years of thirty-five-forty, or a small detective agency. In the works of this type, the main character opposes almost an entire world: organized crime, corrupt politicians, selling police. The main features are the maximum of the hero, his "coolness", the dwelling world and honesty of the main character. The best samples of the genre are psychologically and contain signs of serious literature - for example, the works of Raymond Chandler.

• Dashil Hammet, a cycle of a continental detective agency, "Bloody Harvest" - is considered a hence of the genre.
• Raymond Chandler, "Goodbye, Favorite", "High Window", "Woman in the Lake."
• Ross McDonald - many works.
• Chester Heims, "Run, Negro, Run."

Criminal detective

Events are described from the point of view of the criminal, and not looking for his people. Classic example: Jim Thompson "Killer in Me"

• James Headley Chase - "The whole world in your pocket"

Detective in the cinema

Detective focuses on the actions of a detective, private detective, or a novice detective studying the mysterious circumstances of the crime by finding keys to a randering, investigation, and skillful conclusions. A successful detective film often hides the personality of the criminal until the end of the story, and then adds an element of surprise into the arrest of the suspect. It is possible however, the opposite. So, the calling card of the series Colombo was the demonstration of events from the point of view of both a detective and a criminal.

Uncertainty is often preserved as an important part of the plot. This can be carried out with the help of a sound track, the corners of the camera setting, the games of the shadows and unexpected turns of the plot. Alfred Hichkok used all these techniques, from time to time allowing the viewer to enter the state of premonition of the threat and then chose the most successful moment for the dramatic effect.

Detective Tale proved their suitability to be a good choice for a movie script. The detective is often a strong character with pronounced leadership qualities, and the plot may include elements of drama, unknown, personal growth, ambiguous and unexpected distinctive features of character.

At least until the 1980s, women in detectives often play a double role, having a relationship with a detective and often fulfill the role of "women in danger." Women in those films are often inventive personality, being self-confident, are determined and often double. They can serve as an element of unknowns like helpless victims.

Aphorisms about detective

• Thanks to the criminals, world culture has enriched in a detective genre.
• If you do not know what to write, write: "A man with a revolver in his hand" has entered. " (Reimond Chandler)
• The larger investigator, the longer the detective. (Victor Romanov)
• The motives are so many crimes that the turnip of the detective scheds. (

Books - this unique, filled with secret and magic world, which entails each of us. We all prefer different genre areas: historical novels, fantasy, mysticism.

In a good detective, a man holds a chopped head in his hand ...

However, one of the most revered and, undoubtedly, interesting genres is a detective. A talented written work in a detective genre gives the reader to independently fold the logical chain of events and calculate the criminal. Which undoubtedly requires mental effort. Incredibly interesting and exciting reading!

So what is a detective in the literature and what is different from other genres?

Writing a book in a detective genre requires a lot of effort from the author. The plot requires careful thinking and does not tolerate inconsistencies in the narration. A logically constructed chain from events and hints, a fierce confrontation of positive and negative heroes, a voltage that the book is impregnated ... These factors make a detective one of the most favorite genres of many booklers.

What is a detective?

Detective is a literary work or movie telling about the adventures of the detective. The detective is always the mystery, which is revealed by the end of the narration.

The origin of the term

What is a "detective"? The definition appeared together with the first detective stories that came out in the XIX century. The term has occurred from the Latin word Detectio - "disclose", "detect". It has two meanings: the first - denotes the detective as a genre, the second is a man who is investigating the detective.

The term was borrowed from English in the XIX century.

First detective in history

The expert group of a classic detective is considered to be agate Christie with her Miss Marple, but in fact it is not. For the first time, the classic detective was written in the 40s of the XIX century by the popular writer Edgar Allan software. All three of his story - "Murders on Morg Street", "Mystery Marie Roger" and "abducted letter" - are still considered a classic that the authors follow the authors to this day.

There is a crime - there is a detective story

Not less than Edgar in stories in the detective genre was famous for Anna Catherine Green. Being a daughter of a lawyer, she knew how to not only come up with exciting stories, but also as accurately described the investigation process. Her first work entitled "Lavenouworth Business" became a bestseller. In the Pennsylvania State Senate, the authorship of Anna was questioned: can a woman write such a realistic detective story?

However, until the XIX century, certain motives of the detective genre met in the literature. Probably, the element of the detective originated simultaneously with the advent of the first laws and their violations. It can be found even in ancient literature. But for the first time, an attempt to write a full-fledged detective was undertaken to William Godwin in the XV century, which described the adventures of a passionate fans of secrets.

Later the philosopher anarchist W. Godwin in his novel "Caleb Williams" (1974) described an amateur detective. MEMUARY E. Vokoka made a significant share in the development of a detective genre. Read more of his fascinating biography below.

The famous Sam Sfeid is a typical representative of a nairny detective. It was he who became one of the hedlemen of this area, which later gave the audience a chain of the series about Colombo. What is a narrow detective? This is the inhabitant of a narrow detective genre, which has its own distinctive features. It is usually an ironic, disappointed middle-aged detective on the light. Often wears a cloak and a hat as the famous Colombo.

Discussing what a detective in the literature should not be mentioned and the most famous in the literature of the detective - Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Until now, the authors of detectives are trying to precipitate their characters as much as possible from the ideal image of Holmes.

Features of a detective genre

What is a detective as an art genre and what characterizes does it differ? Its elements recognizable immediately from the first pages of the narration.

1. The author sets out his thoughts clearly and more attention to the environment, rather than on the heroes themselves. Detectives are sometimes written somewhat dry and restrained, which is not observed in the works of other literary genres. Exceptions are women's detective novels, in which there are many emotions and humor. This is explained by the fact that the main task of a detective is to investigate the main secret, logical comparison of the facts.
2. The author describes an ordinary situation. The reader is confidently oriented in the story events and knows all the characters that appear in history. However, there are exceptions when the only not mentioned character is a criminal. It appears at the end of history, during the disclosure of the crime committed by him.
3. In business, there is almost always a crime. The author actively involves the reader in the investigation process. He knows all the facts that allow you to independently fold the puzzle of events. Of course, this opportunity is not provided by all authors, sometimes about the personality of the criminal can not be guessed to the last pages of the book.
4. Logicality. The logical chain, which the author built does not violate any extraneous events. All the moments described in the book are related to the investigation and are not mentioned just like that.

In addition, a certain "set" of characters is present in the detective.

Typical characters in the literary detective

The author writes a detective story for the sake of a detective. In other words, the criminal adjusts its bloody activity for a detective, which is investigating the crime. However, it should be noted that there is no detective novel in all subgenars a crime. For example, at five of the eighteen stories about Sherlock Holmes, written by Artur Conan Doyle, there was no crime. However, the fact of investigation of the riddles has been preserved.

The detective is often a police officer, a private detective or amateur. The latter is especially loved by readers, since his image is close and clear to them. Reading such a detective, the reader is confident: it will be on the place of the detective, would act in the same way. The amateur detective is often found in an adequacy detective. What is a detective in the adventurous genre? This is an adventure novel with a detective line in the spirit of Dashil Hammet. Such novels are replete with events, this is the world of exotic and heronts, secrets and adventures.

The offender often appears in the novel. He may be under a suspect, a witness or even the victim. He opposes the consequence in every possible way, traces notice. Often the author introduces the reader with the criminal, but in such a way that he will not guess about his personality. After all, it is intrigue, who is actually the main villain, in 90% of cases makes the reader to read the novel to the end.

And, of course, the victim, who often and himself turns out to be a criminal in a classic detective.

In addition, in the novel you can meet an assistant detective, a witness and other secondary characters.

The most famous detective in history

In the literary genre the most famous detectives are: Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Auguste Dupin. However, in real life there were famous detectives who left their mark in history. Among them are Alan Pinkerton and Eugene Francois Vidok.

The latter is famous for an incredibly turbulent biography. At the age of 14, he killed his teacher at the fencing class, and although this was a rock chance, Eugene decided to run to America. However, he was called in the army. Soon he deserted and got into a bad company. Eugene robbed and killed the gang as part of the gang, was repeatedly caught by the police, but every time I ran away, for which it was nusted in the criminal risk king.

After a year later, the evidence understood that this life was not for him, he himself went to the police and offered his services for catching criminals. He argued that only the criminal could understand the criminal. Eugene really managed to unravel even the most complex criminal affairs. He became the prototype of many detectives of the literary genre.

By age, Russian detective has long been "grandfather": he is more than 150 years old. His story began in the second half of the XIX century, when in 1866, the liberator, after the abolition of serfdom, held a number of reforms, including judicial. This judicial reform has prepared the interest of the public to a criminal life: the meetings were perceived as something like the tour of the famous artists, and the court of the criminal became a kind of contemporary reality show.

Then the newspapers and magazines began to print criminal chronicles and essays from court sessions. Such essays were very popular among the population of the Russian Empire, which the large Russian writers took advantage. However, the detective genre in Russia did not fit immediately.

It is known that the detective genre appeared in 1841. His arrogant was Edgar by his "murder on Morg Street." According to the heyday of American romanticism, and therefore the detective itself was and remains in nature a romantic genome. And in Russia of the XIX century on the literary arena, realism ruled. And if romanticism flowed out of Protestantism, the Russian realism fully corresponded to Orthodoxy - and Orthodoxy and Protestant ethics were incompatible. Hence the following contradiction flows.

Edgar By, developing the genre of a classic detective, assumed that the murder became part of aesthetics. He proceeded from a simple mathematical calculation: any detective was a mystery with three unknowns: "Who killed?", "How did you kill?", "Why did you kill?". For the Russian mentality, the introduction of a crime as aesthetics, as a decision of the task was unthinkable. Russia in the Epoch of Realism took it as a sin, and therefore a detective form on Russian soil acquired a completely different appearance.

For example, a great novel to some extent imagined the elements of a detective genre - especially since Dostoevsky himself loved Edgar in and wrote a laudatory article about his story "Black Cat" in his magazine "New Time". However, the "crime and punishment" was not a detective, but rather a judicial essay, thereby echoing judicial reform. There is a feeling that Dostoevsky read about the crime in the newspaper and reworked it in the Christian novel. Dostoevsky generally used the judicial essays taken from newspapers in his works: the novel was associated with the sensational case of Nechaeva, the novel was also based on a litigation.

In the XIX century, the lawyer Anatoly Koni was very famous in Russia. He did not give rest of the laurel of the writer, and he described his own business in essays. Horses was friendly C, and Tolstoy knew many stories of horses about different matters and judicial errors. One of the cases and inspired the writer to create a novel. The novel contained a detective element - the murder of the merchant of Omerelkov, in which he unfairly accused Katyusha Maslov.

Vladimir Gilyarovsky in Moscow and Moskvichi, and Vlas Doroshenko in the stories about the life of the convicts, and, and, and many other writers were also treated for a judicial essay. Even the image of the "Russian Sherlock Holmes" originated - the first chief of the St. Petersburg Decal Police of Ivan Putilin, whose memoirs became the basis for many literary works in the genre of the judicial essay.

Anyway, the criminal chronicle entered the history of large Russian literature of the XIX century, but did not create that pure genre of a detective, which we know by the works of Edgar Po and Arthur Conan Doyle. Nevertheless, the work with detective constituents remained forever and in demand from the Russian reader.