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Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction

Sarah Trott Orcid Logo

Swansea University Author: Sarah Trott Orcid Logo

Abstract

Raymond Chandler created the detective Philip Marlowe not as an idealisation of heroic individualism, as is commonly perceived, but rather as an authentic individual exhibiting very real psychological frailties resulting from his traumatic experiences during World War One. Marlowe’s characterisation...

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Published: Mississippi University Press of Mississippi 2016
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa16518
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fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2016-04-14T10:13:06.3719741</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>16518</id><entry>2013-12-06</entry><title>Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>c57232d712939dcfdf1244f36fc3504c</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-7622-2289</ORCID><firstname>Sarah</firstname><surname>Trott</surname><name>Sarah Trott</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2013-12-06</date><abstract>Raymond Chandler created the detective Philip Marlowe not as an idealisation of heroic individualism, as is commonly perceived, but rather as an authentic individual exhibiting very real psychological frailties resulting from his traumatic experiences during World War One. Marlowe&#x2019;s characterisation is more sophisticated than the traditional chivalric readings and can instead be read as an authentic representation of a traumatised veteran in American society. Substituting the horror of the trenches for the corruption of the city, Chandler&#x2019;s disillusioned protagonist and his representation of an unsympathetic American society resonate strongly with the dislocation of the &#x2018;Lost Generation.&#x2019; Consequently, Chandler should be considered, not simply a generic writer, but as an important American literary figure. This thesis discusses for the first time revealing primary documents as well as revisiting and re-examining archival sources. This research highlights extensive discrepancies in existing biographical accounts of Chandler&#x2019;s war experience, revealing the trauma that troubled Chandler throughout his life. The application of psychological behavioural interpretation to interrogate Chandler&#x2019;s novels demonstrates the variety of post-traumatic symptoms that tormented both Chandler and his protagonist. A close reading of his personal papers reveals the psychological symptoms of PTSD that were encoded, consciously or otherwise, into Marlowe&#x2019;s characterisation. Marlowe can be best understood as a character shaped by Chandler&#x2019;s own experiences. This conflation of the hard-boiled style and the experience of war have influenced many contemporary crime writers, particularly in the troubled aftermath of the Vietnam War. The sum of this work offers a new understanding of Chandler&#x2019;s traumatic war experience, how that experience informed the creation and development of American hard-boiled detective fiction, and how such readings of his work permits Chandler to transcend generic limitations and be recognised as a key twentieth century literary figure.</abstract><type>Book</type><journal/><publisher>University Press of Mississippi</publisher><placeOfPublication>Mississippi</placeOfPublication><keywords/><publishedDay>31</publishedDay><publishedMonth>12</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2016</publishedYear><publishedDate>2016-12-31</publishedDate><doi/><url/><notes></notes><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm/><lastEdited>2016-04-14T10:13:06.3719741</lastEdited><Created>2013-12-06T12:10:21.0745465</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Culture and Communication - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Sarah</firstname><surname>Trott</surname><orcid>0000-0002-7622-2289</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2016-04-14T10:13:06.3719741 v2 16518 2013-12-06 Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction c57232d712939dcfdf1244f36fc3504c 0000-0002-7622-2289 Sarah Trott Sarah Trott true false 2013-12-06 Raymond Chandler created the detective Philip Marlowe not as an idealisation of heroic individualism, as is commonly perceived, but rather as an authentic individual exhibiting very real psychological frailties resulting from his traumatic experiences during World War One. Marlowe’s characterisation is more sophisticated than the traditional chivalric readings and can instead be read as an authentic representation of a traumatised veteran in American society. Substituting the horror of the trenches for the corruption of the city, Chandler’s disillusioned protagonist and his representation of an unsympathetic American society resonate strongly with the dislocation of the ‘Lost Generation.’ Consequently, Chandler should be considered, not simply a generic writer, but as an important American literary figure. This thesis discusses for the first time revealing primary documents as well as revisiting and re-examining archival sources. This research highlights extensive discrepancies in existing biographical accounts of Chandler’s war experience, revealing the trauma that troubled Chandler throughout his life. The application of psychological behavioural interpretation to interrogate Chandler’s novels demonstrates the variety of post-traumatic symptoms that tormented both Chandler and his protagonist. A close reading of his personal papers reveals the psychological symptoms of PTSD that were encoded, consciously or otherwise, into Marlowe’s characterisation. Marlowe can be best understood as a character shaped by Chandler’s own experiences. This conflation of the hard-boiled style and the experience of war have influenced many contemporary crime writers, particularly in the troubled aftermath of the Vietnam War. The sum of this work offers a new understanding of Chandler’s traumatic war experience, how that experience informed the creation and development of American hard-boiled detective fiction, and how such readings of his work permits Chandler to transcend generic limitations and be recognised as a key twentieth century literary figure. Book University Press of Mississippi Mississippi 31 12 2016 2016-12-31 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University 2016-04-14T10:13:06.3719741 2013-12-06T12:10:21.0745465 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations Sarah Trott 0000-0002-7622-2289 1
title Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction
spellingShingle Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction
Sarah Trott
title_short Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction
title_full Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction
title_fullStr Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction
title_full_unstemmed Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction
title_sort Raymond Chandler and War Noir: The Detective as Veteran in American Fiction
author_id_str_mv c57232d712939dcfdf1244f36fc3504c
author_id_fullname_str_mv c57232d712939dcfdf1244f36fc3504c_***_Sarah Trott
author Sarah Trott
author2 Sarah Trott
format Book
publishDate 2016
institution Swansea University
publisher University Press of Mississippi
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations
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description Raymond Chandler created the detective Philip Marlowe not as an idealisation of heroic individualism, as is commonly perceived, but rather as an authentic individual exhibiting very real psychological frailties resulting from his traumatic experiences during World War One. Marlowe’s characterisation is more sophisticated than the traditional chivalric readings and can instead be read as an authentic representation of a traumatised veteran in American society. Substituting the horror of the trenches for the corruption of the city, Chandler’s disillusioned protagonist and his representation of an unsympathetic American society resonate strongly with the dislocation of the ‘Lost Generation.’ Consequently, Chandler should be considered, not simply a generic writer, but as an important American literary figure. This thesis discusses for the first time revealing primary documents as well as revisiting and re-examining archival sources. This research highlights extensive discrepancies in existing biographical accounts of Chandler’s war experience, revealing the trauma that troubled Chandler throughout his life. The application of psychological behavioural interpretation to interrogate Chandler’s novels demonstrates the variety of post-traumatic symptoms that tormented both Chandler and his protagonist. A close reading of his personal papers reveals the psychological symptoms of PTSD that were encoded, consciously or otherwise, into Marlowe’s characterisation. Marlowe can be best understood as a character shaped by Chandler’s own experiences. This conflation of the hard-boiled style and the experience of war have influenced many contemporary crime writers, particularly in the troubled aftermath of the Vietnam War. The sum of this work offers a new understanding of Chandler’s traumatic war experience, how that experience informed the creation and development of American hard-boiled detective fiction, and how such readings of his work permits Chandler to transcend generic limitations and be recognised as a key twentieth century literary figure.
published_date 2016-12-31T03:18:52Z
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score 10.997979

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