Itinéraires, 2014-3 | 2015

This article explores the hegemonic status enjoyed by the crime novel in the contemporary era, agenre which, in contrast to the literary mainstream, continues to flourish. It suggests that thedevelopment of a body of research on crime fiction has resulted in the widespread acceptance ofa finite number of unassailable generic qualities. One of these, the heuristic function of the crimenarrative, plays a crucial role with regard to two questions that have stimulated much interestrecently among critics. These concern firstly the relative ease with which crime fiction, unlikeother literary genres, seems able to migrate from one national culture to the next, and secondlyits capacity to engage with notions of the real or indeed with topical issues, even in thoseinstances where the referential aspects of the text in question are muted. With reference to thePartners in Crime: Readers, Translators, Characters and the Promotion of a Genre Itinéraires, 2014-3 | 201514