ENG-219 Thief-Making and Thief-Taking: Nineteenth-Century Crime Literature

The nineteenth century was immersed in defining criminality and, through the gradual professionalization of the police, constructing the criminal's nemesis, the detective. Through popular crime fiction, newspaper accounts of an actual criminal case, and articles from nineteenth-century periodicals, we will explore how the nineteenth-century fascination with crime and detectives was shaped by preoccupations with the construction of gender, class dynamics, and the tension between the didactic and entertainment functions of these literary forms. (Introduction to Literary Studies) Prerequisites: FYS-101 or FYS-110

Credits

3 credits