Why do we read detective stories?  Do they allow us to experience
the power of our rationality or, rather, its limitations?  The
detective story is one of the most perfect popular expressions of
the modernist impulse to organize a chaotic world through the use of
rational thought. But can all mysteries be solved? As Sue Grafton
writes, “a mystery is more than a novel, more than a compelling
account of people whose fate engages us. The mystery is a way of
examining the dark side of human nature, a means by which we can
explore, vicariously, the perplexing questions of crime, guilt and
innocence, violence and justice”. This course focuses specifically
on the birth of the detective genre along with its evolution and
deconstruction in recent days. We will examine a series of detective
novels and films, from some of the most classic examples of the
genre (Edgar Allen Poe and Conan Doyle) to among the most daring and
innovative (Quentin Tarantino and Umberto Eco). We will travel in
time and space analyzing writers and directors from different
countries (United States, Italy, Great Britain, France, and
Argentina). The objectives of this course will be to gain insight
into a genre which has become one of the favorite means of
expression of 20 and 21st century literature and cinema and to equip
students with the basic techniques necessary for the analysis of
literature and film.