Comfort factors, moral fantasy and social criticism in formulaic fiction : a study of literary formulas with particular reference to the 'hard-boiled' detective story

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dc.contributor.authorRoote, Christonie St Martinen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-17T12:38:53Z
dc.date.available2016-03-17T12:38:53Z
dc.date.issued1998en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe so-called 'hard-boiled' detective story is probably one of the most successful formulaic fictive patterns to be developed this century; and has been translated very effectively into popular film and television drama. Its founding fathers are normally deemed to be Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. A study of their works should provide a valuable insight into the structure of their patterns and how they are made to work to the public's satisfaction. After all, the one indisputable and verifiable matter in the whole business is that these sort of texts appeal to great numbers of people who read them because they enjoy reading them. Some of the interesting questions thus revolve around the issue of why these fictions are so well liked. However, a study of literary formulas assumes the necessity of demonstrating what those particular formulas are. There are three predominating structures which, to my mind, build this kind of fiction into its finished shape. Firstly, there are the comfort factors which offer the reader a sense of security. Secondly, there is their sense of moral fantasy which allows the reader to escape from the confines of their everyday lives. And thirdly, in the best of these works, there is some element of the new and/or the unconventional, often in the form of social and political criticism encapsulated within the safe formulas of the text. This adds the necessary spice to the life of the construct.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationRoote, C. S. M. (1998). <i>Comfort factors, moral fantasy and social criticism in formulaic fiction : a study of literary formulas with particular reference to the 'hard-boiled' detective story</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17941en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationRoote, Christonie St Martin. <i>"Comfort factors, moral fantasy and social criticism in formulaic fiction : a study of literary formulas with particular reference to the 'hard-boiled' detective story."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17941en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationRoote, C. 1998. Comfort factors, moral fantasy and social criticism in formulaic fiction : a study of literary formulas with particular reference to the 'hard-boiled' detective story. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Roote, Christonie St Martin AB - The so-called 'hard-boiled' detective story is probably one of the most successful formulaic fictive patterns to be developed this century; and has been translated very effectively into popular film and television drama. Its founding fathers are normally deemed to be Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald. A study of their works should provide a valuable insight into the structure of their patterns and how they are made to work to the public's satisfaction. After all, the one indisputable and verifiable matter in the whole business is that these sort of texts appeal to great numbers of people who read them because they enjoy reading them. Some of the interesting questions thus revolve around the issue of why these fictions are so well liked. However, a study of literary formulas assumes the necessity of demonstrating what those particular formulas are. There are three predominating structures which, to my mind, build this kind of fiction into its finished shape. Firstly, there are the comfort factors which offer the reader a sense of security. Secondly, there is their sense of moral fantasy which allows the reader to escape from the confines of their everyday lives. And thirdly, in the best of these works, there is some element of the new and/or the unconventional, often in the form of social and political criticism encapsulated within the safe formulas of the text. This adds the necessary spice to the life of the construct. DA - 1998 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1998 T1 - Comfort factors, moral fantasy and social criticism in formulaic fiction : a study of literary formulas with particular reference to the 'hard-boiled' detective story TI - Comfort factors, moral fantasy and social criticism in formulaic fiction : a study of literary formulas with particular reference to the 'hard-boiled' detective story UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17941 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/17941
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationRoote CSM. Comfort factors, moral fantasy and social criticism in formulaic fiction : a study of literary formulas with particular reference to the 'hard-boiled' detective story. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of English Language and Literature, 1998 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17941en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of English Language and Literatureen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherLiterary Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleComfort factors, moral fantasy and social criticism in formulaic fiction : a study of literary formulas with particular reference to the 'hard-boiled' detective storyen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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