A Study On American And British Detective Fiction A Psychoanalytical Approach

The detective fiction is a genre of fiction that deals with crimes committed by the criminals, and the detection of the detectives. It is commonly believed that the detective fiction is widely popular all over the world. In order to enrich the study of the detective fiction, and explore the psychological reason of the creation and reading of the detective fiction, a study on British and American detective fiction from psychoanalytical perspective will be discussed in this thesis.The introduction part of this thesis provide a concise introduction to the definitions and history of the detective fiction, in chapter one, and in Chapter One, a brief survey of psychoanalytical criticism is employed. Psychoanalytical criticism was one of the most effective approaches on the literary psychology theories. The founder, Sigmund Freud mainly contributes to the interpretation of the process and motives of the authors'creation, while Norman Holland further promotes the psychoanalytical approach from the readers'perspective. Applying these theories, in Chapter Two British and American detective fiction will be analyzed from the following dimensions: analysis on the characterization of the detective fiction from psychoanalytical structural theory of the mind, which included the Id and the culprits, the Ego and the detectives, the Superego and the third side of British and American detective fiction; approach on the detective fiction from the perspective of repression and catharsis theory, which mainly about the catharsis function of mystery function; approach on the murder plot in the detective fiction from the death theory, which is mainly about the murders in the detective fiction; approach on the narrative pattern of the detective fiction. Chapter Three mainly deals with the psychoanalytical study on the detective novel from the readers'perspective, including: social issues reflected by the detective fiction from psychoanalytical perspective; the construction of suspense and the consequent formation of the repression; the reason for the popularity of the detective fiction; the detective fiction in relation of the tragedy theory; The reaction of the readers in the readings of the detective fiction; the influence on readers'psychology in the detective fiction.Overall, by this close study on the British and American detective fictions from psychoanalytical approach, the conclusion of the psychological reason for the popularity of the detective fiction among both the authors and the readers from psychoanalytical perspective will be explored. In this way the study on the British and American detective fiction will be more sufficient.