The Post-Colonial Detective

What happens to detective fiction when the detective is "post-colonial," a marginalized native or settler in a country recovering from colonialism? This introduction to the peculiarities of the post-colonial detective and to post-colonial theory establishes a context in which to view more than a dozen notable detectives and authors from around the world. The essays present post-colonial detection as an exciting hybrid of western-influenced police methods and plot conventions with indigenous cultural insights and wisdom in exotic settings.

What happens to detective fiction when the detective is "post-colonial," a marginalized native or settler in a country recovering from colonialism? This introduction to the peculiarities of the post-colonial detective and to post-colonial theory establishes a context in which to view more than a dozen notable detectives and authors from around the world. The essays present post-colonial detection as an exciting hybrid of western-influenced police methods and plot conventions with indigenous cultural insights and wisdom in exotic settings.

Booknews

Examines post-colonial detective fiction, a hybrid of western- influenced police methods and plot conventions and indigenous cultural insights and wisdom in exotic settings, in which the detective is a marginalized native or settler in a country recovering from colonialism. Authors discussed include H.R.F. Keating, James McClure, Arthur Upfield, and William Marshall, as well as post-colonial detective novelists little-known in English, including Driss Chraibi of Morocco, Ch'eng Hsiao-ch'ing of Shanghai, and many communist Chinese writers. An introduction to post-colonial theory establishes a context in which to view these detectives and authors. Christian teaches English at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ed Christian is Assistant Professor of English at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.