Hard-Boiled Intimations

The opening chapter explains the sudden advent of hard-boiled writing in the 1920s, to clarify why this curious genre emerged when it did, and what continues to beguile readers as much formally as narratively. If that hardly frames a new critical perspective, the questions are still worth reviewing to show why sociological, historical, even formalist interpretations so often misunderstand the appeal. A more productive approach that focuses on strategies of early hard-boiled writing discloses how it anticipated later, genuinely accomplished detective fiction, which diverts readers’ eyes seductively away from plot and psychology. The most celebrated of early writers—Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James Cain—indelibly stamped the genre by deflecting attention from plot to the interest objects hold in themselves. As well, they created fictional heroes notable for garish self-expression rather than credible character, and who thus finally (if paradoxically) remain winningly two-dimensional.

Sześć odcieni czerni. Szkice o klasykach powieści noir

Książka Sześć odcieni czerni. Szkice o klasykach powieści noir jest, w zamierzeniu autora, uzupełnieniem istotnej luki w polskim literaturoznawstwie, jaką jest brak naukowej refleksji nad zjawiskiem znanym jako powieść noir. Stosowane w Polsce od kilkudziesięciu lat określenie „czarny kryminał” jest z jednej strony mylące, z drugiej niemające swego odpowiednika w żadnym innym języku, z trzeciej zacierające związek tej literatury z filmem noir, z czwartej wreszcie nieoddające istoty samego zjawiska. Proponowane tu szkice dotyczą sześciu najważniejszych przedstawicieli prozy określanej mianem noir w literaturze amerykańskiej, którzy swoje utwory napisali i wydali między 1929 i 1960 rokiem. Są to Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich, David Goodis i Jim Thompson. Każdy w nich w indywidualny sposób przedstawiał wizję świata i kreował swoich bohaterów, współtworząc tym samym zjawisko, które określamy dziś jako prozę noir. Zawartym w niniejszej książce szkicom poświęconym autorom uznanym od lat za klasyków literatury kryminalnej, Hammettowi, Cainowi i Chandlerowi, towarzyszą analizy dotyczące mniej znanych twórców, Woolricha, Goodisa, Thompsona, mających – szczególnie na gruncie polskim – status pisarzy zapomnianych, nieczytanych i nietłumaczonych, a których wkład w zjawisko literatury noir trudno jednak przecenić.

Zbiorniki ze stęchłymi ściekami: przekład specjalistycznej terminologii w powieści detektywistycznej, przełożyła Joanna Sobesto

Greasy Scummy Sumps: Translating Specialized Terminology in Detective Fiction Fictional texts containing specialized terms pose a challenge for literary translators. Rooted in raw factual accuracy, terms can nonetheless be used in extremely expressive ways. Raymond Chandler used oil industry terminology (bull wheel, derrick, oil field, scum, walking-beam, and especially the term sump) in his first novel The Big Sleep (1939) within intentionally artistic phrasings involving alliteration, parallel structuring and repetition. The novel was (re)translated into Spanish many times (El sueño eterno 1947, 1948, 1958, 1972 and 2001), offering a view into how different translators met this challenge. Though the published translations reveal lower frequency of repetition in all cases, inconsistent co-textual use of the terminology and usage of non-terms, omissions and errors, these instances were qualitatively compensated with creatively reproduced alliterative elements and added literary devices. This study of a seldomly explored aspect of literary translation shows how professionals are aware of the importance of language for specific purposes in literature and how effective balances between technical accuracy and literary expressiveness can be attained. For theorists who might believe that literary and technical translation are separate worlds of translatorial action, the results of this study show that literary translators tend to bridge this gap proficiently with both accuracy and literary flair.

Three Layers of Metaphors in Ross Macdonald’s "Black Money"

In his early career, Kenneth Millar, better known as Ross Macdonald, emulated the style of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. By the 1960s he had established himself as a distinct voice in the hardboiled genre. In his Lew Archer series, he conveys the complexity of his characters and settings primarily by the use of metaphors. In his 1966 novel Black Money the device performs three functions. In the case of minor characters, the author uses metaphors to comment on Californian society. Concurrently, metaphors describing major characters allow him to develop their dramatic arcs, whereas the recurring elements of the leitmotif serve to demonstrate the narrating detective’s growing concerns with the ongoing investigation. Arguably, it was Macdonald’s use of metaphors that helped define his unique voice.

The Labyrinth and the Non-Solution: Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase and the Metaphysical Detective

Many of Murakami’s novels demonstrate his appropriation of the terminology, imagery and metaphor that are found in hardboiled detective fiction. The question of Haruki Murakami’s use of the tropes from hardboiled detective stories has been discussed by scholars such as Hantke (2007), Stretcher (2002) and Suter (2008), who argue that the writer uses these features as a way to organize his narratives and to pay homage to one of his literary heroes, Raymond Chandler. However, these arguments have not adequately addressed the fact that many of Murakami’s novels fit into the definition of the metaphysical detective story, which is “a text that parodies or subverts traditional detective-story conventions” (Merivale & Sweeney 1999:2). Using this definition as a guiding principle, this paper addresses the issue of the metaphysical detective features apparent in Murakami’s third novel, A Wild Sheep Chase, and, more specifically, looks at his use of the non-solution and labyrinth as narrative devices. The main argument, then, is that Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase fits in with the metaphysical detective novel and uses the familiar tropes of the labyrinth and the non-solution to highlight our impossible search for meaning.

The Coen Brothers

The Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel, launched their career as independent filmmakers in 1984 with the debut of Blood Simple, a low-budget neo-noir. Since then, they have written and directed sixteen feature films in a variety of generic styles, including film noir, crime comedy, gangster movie, neo-western, and screwball comedy. The Coens are auteurs who consider themselves storytellers as much as filmmakers; their screenplays borrow heavily from or re-create the texts of venerable literary precursors, especially the pulp fiction of James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett, and Raymond Chandler. From the beginning, journalistic commentators have been divided in their assessments of the Coens’ films. Despite widespread acclaim and praise for their filmmaking technique, popular movie reviewers have accused them of cynicism and misanthropy, criticizing their films for a lack of purpose or meaning and for a perceived lack of realism and authenticity. More tolerant of the hermeneutic ambiguity that characterizes Coen films, academic scholars have made various attempts to reassess the films more favorably. Although Coen movies have been widely reviewed by journalists from the start, scholarly publications on the Coens did not begin to appear with any regularity until after the commercial and critical success of Fargo in 1996. Since then, scholars from a wide range of disciplines have published increasing numbers of books, anthologies, and journal articles addressing the Coens’ innovative use of genre and pastiche, their treatment of philosophical and religious themes, and the incongruous mixing of humor and violence that has become a Coen trademark. The large fan cult that emerged in response to The Big Lebowski stimulated heightened academic interest; more research has been published on Lebowski than any other Coen film to date. Likewise, their award-winning adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men has received increased scholarly attention.

2. The modernist crime novel and Hollywood noir

‘The modernist crime novel and Hollywood noir’ considers how an atmosphere of ‘modernism’ in 1940s American film noir is largely due to the ‘thriller genre’ in literature. Many aspects of modernity—the interest in subjectivity and multiple points of view, the unorthodox handling of time, the stripping away of genteel rhetoric, the critique of modernity, explicit sex, and fears of women—came together in film noir, but were a potential threat to the entertainment industry. The tension was evident in Hollywood adaptations of four influential crime writers and major contributors to film noir—Samuel Dashiell Hammett, Graham Greene, James M. Cain, and Raymond Chandler—whose work needed to be lightened or ameliorated.