The Image of Central European Immigrant in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of the Detective Murdoch/Murdoch Mysteries Series

Popular fiction is often defined as formula fiction as it tends to employ a much more limited repertory of plots, characters, and settings than Literature. Westerns, fantasies, romances, mysteries, science fiction, adventures, etc. must have a certain kind of setting, a particular cast of (stereotyp...

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Publicado en:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas,
Autor principal: Oklopcic, Biljana
Formato: Article ou chapitre numérique
Lenguaje:Anglais
Publicado: European journal of American studies 2023
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Acceso en línea:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
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spelling openedition-oai:revues.org:ejas_20949 https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.20949 urn:doi:10.4000/ejas.20949 en https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/20949 2023-12-08T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/fn0j https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Image of Central European Immigrant in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of the Detective Murdoch/Murdoch Mysteries Series European journal of American studies European Association for American Studies info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1991-9336 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas Oklopcic, Biljana popular culture immigration Detective Murdoch Maureen Jennings Murdoch Mysteries popular fiction immigrant stereotypes Central Europe Popular fiction is often defined as formula fiction as it tends to employ a much more limited repertory of plots, characters, and settings than Literature. Westerns, fantasies, romances, mysteries, science fiction, adventures, etc. must have a certain kind of setting, a particular cast of (stereotypical) characters, and follow a limited number of lines of action because of their close connection to a particular society, culture, and time period. Although appealing to a great number of readers, this limited repertory of (stereotypical) characters, plots, and settings is founded on a canonized discourse, resting on a cultural and social personification—a description, a code, a projection, which legitimizes and authorizes the interpretation of culture and nature, masculinity and femininity, superiority and inferiority, power and subordination, therefore reflecting specific cultures’ interests, values, beliefs, and tensions, and implicitly or explicitly providing insights into specific cultures’ anxieties and aspirations. The aim of this paper is to examine (1) how the mystery formula in Canadian popular print and TV media constructs the image of Central European immigrant and (2) to what extent the mystery formula in Canadian popular print and TV media relies on stereotypes to create entertainment with rules known to everyone, allowing them to participate in its models of suspense and resolution. The analysis focuses on Maureen Jennings’s Detective Murdoch series (Except the Dying (1997), Poor Tom Is Cold (2001), and Vices of My Blood (2006)) and its TV adaptation Murdoch Mysteries (2008–).
collection OpenEdition Journal
language Anglais
format Article ou chapitre numérique
building 0/Bibliothèque numérique/
1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/
topic popular culture
immigration
Detective Murdoch
Maureen Jennings
Murdoch Mysteries
popular fiction
immigrant
stereotypes
Central Europe
spellingShingle popular culture
immigration
Detective Murdoch
Maureen Jennings
Murdoch Mysteries
popular fiction
immigrant
stereotypes
Central Europe
Oklopcic, Biljana
The Image of Central European Immigrant in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of the Detective Murdoch/Murdoch Mysteries Series
description Popular fiction is often defined as formula fiction as it tends to employ a much more limited repertory of plots, characters, and settings than Literature. Westerns, fantasies, romances, mysteries, science fiction, adventures, etc. must have a certain kind of setting, a particular cast of (stereotypical) characters, and follow a limited number of lines of action because of their close connection to a particular society, culture, and time period. Although appealing to a great number of readers, this limited repertory of (stereotypical) characters, plots, and settings is founded on a canonized discourse, resting on a cultural and social personification—a description, a code, a projection, which legitimizes and authorizes the interpretation of culture and nature, masculinity and femininity, superiority and inferiority, power and subordination, therefore reflecting specific cultures’ interests, values, beliefs, and tensions, and implicitly or explicitly providing insights into specific cultures’ anxieties and aspirations. The aim of this paper is to examine (1) how the mystery formula in Canadian popular print and TV media constructs the image of Central European immigrant and (2) to what extent the mystery formula in Canadian popular print and TV media relies on stereotypes to create entertainment with rules known to everyone, allowing them to participate in its models of suspense and resolution. The analysis focuses on Maureen Jennings’s Detective Murdoch series (Except the Dying (1997), Poor Tom Is Cold (2001), and Vices of My Blood (2006)) and its TV adaptation Murdoch Mysteries (2008–).
author Oklopcic, Biljana
author_facet Oklopcic, Biljana
author_sort Oklopcic, Biljana
title The Image of Central European Immigrant in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of the Detective Murdoch/Murdoch Mysteries Series
title_short The Image of Central European Immigrant in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of the Detective Murdoch/Murdoch Mysteries Series
title_full The Image of Central European Immigrant in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of the Detective Murdoch/Murdoch Mysteries Series
title_fullStr The Image of Central European Immigrant in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of the Detective Murdoch/Murdoch Mysteries Series
title_full_unstemmed The Image of Central European Immigrant in Popular Fiction and Its Adaptations: A Case Study of the Detective Murdoch/Murdoch Mysteries Series
title_sort image of central european immigrant in popular fiction and its adaptations: a case study of the detective murdoch/murdoch mysteries series
publisher European journal of American studies
publishDate 2023
container_title URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas
url https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.20949
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