Naslov
Violence in the Struggle for Space in Paretsky’s Detective Novels

Autori
Pandžić, Maja

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, znanstveni

Skup
Re-Thinking Humanities and Social Sciences „On Violence“

Mjesto i datum
Zadar, Hrvatska, 05-07.09.2013

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
detective fiction ; violence ; space ; feminist criticism ; Sara Paretsky ; Indemnity Only ; Deadlock ; V. I. Warshawski
(detective fiction ; violence ; space ; feminist criticism ; Sara Paretsky ; Indemnity Only ; Deadlock ; V. I. Warshaws)

Sažetak
This presentation is concerned with the depiction of violence through space in two detective novels (Indemnity Only and Deadlock) by the American writer Sara Paretsky, which show a female investigator V.I. Warshawski struggling to establish her identity in a traditionally male world of detection. Space and place are gendered in a multitude of ways, varying across cultures and through time, claims Doreen Massey. One of the most pervasive representations of gendered space is the paradigm of “separate spheres”, consisting of a dominant public male realm of production (the city) and a subordinate female one of reproduction (the home). In my analysis, I will highlight the ways in which characters attempt to maintain and perpetuate this spatial division intrinsic to the patriarchal system. This is mostly reflected in the ways through which both positive and negative male characters seek to remove the woman detective from their area and suspend her investigative activities. While the positive characters, such as policemen, although not openly violent, are hostile towards her entering the sphere of detective work and promote female confinement in the domestic sphere, the negative characters utilize physical violence to keep her from penetrating into their zone and revealing their criminal activities. These measures include violent ransacking of V.I.’s home and office (her private and professional place), vandalizing her automobile (disrupting her independent mobility through the city) as well as physical violence upon her body (beaten up to the extent that she cannot walk nor drive), consequences of which are all related to the notion of immobility. Such violent attempts to suspend her investigation also reflect the attempt of violent spatial control, which limits a woman’s mobility, in terms both of identity and space.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija, Književnost

POVEZANOST RADA