Mystery Fiction

Survey mystery fiction and its conventions, from the genre's 19th-century origins to the classic Golden Age puzzle to its many postmodern manifestations. Writers to be studied will include Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Jorge Luis Borges and others. Understand the mystery novel's status as a significant form of modern fiction, one that explores how human consciousness makes sense out of what might otherwise be viewed as random experience and meaningless violence.