Event: ECR Workshop with Professor Mary Evans

This years Captivating Criminality conference in Bamberg will feature a kick-off event for early career researchers on “Studying Detective Fiction: Some Clues” with Professor Mary Evans.

Date: Wednesday, 29th June 2022, 2-5 pm
Hybrid workshop: Online via Zoom and in person at the University of Bamberg 

​​Workshop description by Mary Evans
This workshop is about how we might approach studying detective fiction, a genre which is universally read and universally written. It is a global genre of literature, in which local contexts are all important whilst trans-cultural themes persist. The most important, and of course long lasting theme, is that of who-did-it.

But that theme also involves a number of questions, some of which I hope to explore with you in this meeting. The first is the complex, and evolving relationship between those famous ‘little grey cells’ and various forms of technology (DNA, weapons, various forms of surveillance). The days of finding out who did it just through the wit of the detective are long gone and have been going since the discovery of how to take fingerprints in the late nineteenth century. So this first question involves issues of how we find out who did it; the complex relationship between human and technological intelligence.

My second question here is that of changing/unchanging motives and definitions for crime. An area which has been hugely enlarged in the past one hundred years and is changing all the time. It used to be said that money and sex were the two essential motivations for crime but detective fiction has widened that view, for example including institutional crime. We will discuss why it is that women, rather than men, are more often the victims of crime.

Thirdly and finally, I would like us to consider a current controversy: the idea of ‘defunding’ the police. As you have all probably noticed some writers of crime fiction now allow endings which do not result in the punishment of the perpetrator. What, if anything, we can ask, is changing here?

Finally, I very much look forward to seeing you. If you come to the seminar, it would be useful if you brought with you a favourite detective novel, and think about how it relates to the questions we have considered. I anticipate that the seminar will run for about 3 hours: I’ll speak for an initial 45 minutes, then questions, then a break and finally contributions about your own novels.

How to apply​
​This workshop accepts applications from post-graduate students, doctoral students as well as early career researchers who finished their PhD within the last seven years. We accept a maximum of 20 people online and 20 people in person and applicants must state which format they are applying for. The workshop will be held in a hybrid format with participants joining online and in person at the same time.
To apply, applicants must send a motivation letter stating both why this workshop would be of particular use to them and why they themselves would be a valuable asset to the workshop. Please also refer to the importance of crime fiction for your study and/or career development.

Make sure to indicate if you wish to participate online or in person at the University of Bamberg, Germany.

Please send your application in PDF or Word format to the ICFA conference team via [email protected] until 15 June 2022.