Detecting the Past to Prevent a Bleak Future: Philip Kerr’s Frederick, the Great Detective and the Neo-Historical Young Adult Novel
This article analyses Philip Kerr’s Friedrich the Great Detective (2017), which features at the intersections of historical crime fiction, biofiction, memory text and young adult novel, as representative of recent trends in the historical novel. It argues that it is particularly the genre’s recent d...
Wedi'i Gadw mewn:
| Cyhoeddwyd yn: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ebc, |
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| Prif Awdur: | |
| Fformat: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Iaith: | Anglais |
| Cyhoeddwyd: |
Études britanniques contemporaines
2025
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| Pynciau: | |
| Mynediad Ar-lein: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Crynodeb: | This article analyses Philip Kerr’s Friedrich the Great Detective (2017), which features at the intersections of historical crime fiction, biofiction, memory text and young adult novel, as representative of recent trends in the historical novel. It argues that it is particularly the genre’s recent diversity and its noteworthy political involvements that ensure its current success. The novel features a young neighbour of Erich Kästner, who, fascinated by Kästner’s hero Emil, aims to become a detective in 1930s Berlin. Against the rise of the Nazi party, Friedrich’s playful pursuit soon turns political as his friend Kästner is persecuted, and Friedrich himself is forced to join the Hitlerjugend. Thus, Philip Kerr’s historical crime story is also a bleak warning of nationalist populism. Told from Friedrich’s perspective, it illustrates how present-day historical fiction addresses past and present political wrongs and attempts to shape its readers’ historical memories to ensure a better future. |
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