The Great Detectives 6 (Non-credit)

Pre-requisites for enrolment

No previous knowledge of the subject needed. Previous students on this strand will enjoy returning to study a new reading list.

Special Information

See below for book list.

Content of Course

This course provides an insight into the development of detective fiction from one of its original writers, Wilkie Collins to how it has played out across different cultures and variations on the genre. You will explore the development of the genre through these key texts, looking at how authors have used the figure of the detective to explore wider themes such as social change, the moral questions of murder and the search for answers to a puzzle. Guidance will be provided weekly of our focus points for discussion and additional resources will be available on our course LEARN site. By the end of the class, students will have a wider understanding of the development of the figure of the great detective in a Scottish context.

The Great Detectives Schedule:

WEEKS 1 AND 2: Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White

WEEKS 3 AND 4: Friedrich Durrenmatt, The Pledge

WEEKS 5 AND 6: Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train

WEEKS 7 AND 8 Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer

WEEKS 9 AND 10: Sara Paretsky, Bitter Medicine

Teaching method(s)

Students on this course will read five novels which represent key moments in the development of detective fiction. Through mini-lectures and seminar discussion, students will explore the key elements of each novel and develop skills in close reading, critical analysis, using and interpreting secondary reading and writing an academic piece of work. Students will engage with the texts through excerpts for close reading, chosen by the tutor, in a supportive tutorial atmosphere.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students should be able to:

• Show confidence in discussing texts;

• Demonstrate analytical approach to close reading;

• Place literature in its historical, social and political context;

• Explain the various elements of the genre of detective fiction;

• Demonstrate a good understanding of how the genre has developed and diversified.

Sources

Core Readings

Essential:

• Collins, W. (2008) The Woman in White. Oxford: Oxford World’s Classics.
• Durrenmatt, F. (2017) The Pledge. London: Pushkin Vertigo.
• Highsmith, P. (1999) Strangers on a Train. London: Vintage.
• Braithwaite, O. (2019) My Sister, the Serial Killer. London: Atlantic.
• Paretsky, S. (2008) Bitter Medicine. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Recommended:

• Priestman, M. ed. (2003) The Cambridge Companion to Detective Fiction. Cambridge: CUP.
• Scaggs, J. (2005) Crime Fiction. London: Routledge.
• Plain, Gill. (2001) Twentieth-Century Crime Fiction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Nickerson, C. ed. (2010) The Cambridge Companion to American Crime Fiction. Cambridge: CUP.
• Carruthers, G. & McIlvanney, L. eds. (2012) The Cambridge companion to Scottish literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.