Don’t Try This at Home: Interwar Parodies of Crime Fiction in the Eastern Mediterranean
This article explores the insights that crime fiction offers on state formation and democratic governance in modern Greece and Egypt. Despite differing historical paths after centuries of Ottoman rule, both nations experienced periods of democratic renegotiation alongside advancements in education a...
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| Udgivet i: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/belphegor, |
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Anglais |
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Belphégor
2025
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| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Summary: | This article explores the insights that crime fiction offers on state formation and democratic governance in modern Greece and Egypt. Despite differing historical paths after centuries of Ottoman rule, both nations experienced periods of democratic renegotiation alongside advancements in education and the press, which have been identified as factors facilitating the emergence of crime fiction. In the Interwar period, Greek author Nirvanas and Egyptian author al-Ḥakīm vernacularised the globally dominant genre in their works to critique the modern state’s failures, particularly its inability to ensure law and order. Their novels – Nirvanas’s Έγκλημα and al-Ḥakīm’s Yawmiyyāt – utilised parody to challenge the prevailing narrative of the modern state. The analysis suggests examining the role of the educated/effendiyya class, to which both authors belonged, in upholding the state and critiquing its malfunctioning. Ultimately, early works of crime fiction in the Eastern Mediterranean offer a poignant critique of state power and its ability to deliver on its promises. |
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