Hercule Poirot and the Tricky Performers of Stereotypes in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express

IF 0.2 0 LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM

Text Matters-A Journal of Literature Theory and Culture Pub Date : 2021-11-22 DOI:10.18778/2083-2931.11.13

Ken Eckert

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (1934) remains well-read, and its hero Hercule Poirot continues to enjoy popular currency. Yet the text has not aged well due to some of its now clichéd plot developments and dialogue, as well as Christie’s depiction of class, ethnic and national prejudices in it and her other novels. This study hopes to re-energize discussion on Murder by finding defensible reasons for its apparent flaws. Not only do the stereotypical behaviors of the passengers narratively distract Poirot and the reader from a solution, but their flaws serve as foils against which Poirot’s heroic gravitas and cultural values are positively contrasted. Further, criticism often misses the point that the passengers are performing their behaviors, and if so, the deployment of stereotypes as only acted performances destabilizes them as permanent aspects of national or ethnic identity. Can Murder then be read as an anti-racist text?

查看原文本刊更多论文

在阿加莎·克里斯蒂的《东方快车谋杀案》中，赫尔克里·波洛和刻板印象的狡猾表演者

阿加莎·克里斯蒂(Agatha Christie)的《东方快车谋杀案》(1934)至今仍广受欢迎，书中的主人公赫尔克里·波洛(Hercule Poirot)继续广受欢迎。然而，由于其中一些情节发展和对话现在已经很老套，以及克里斯蒂在这本书和她的其他小说中对阶级、种族和国家偏见的描述，这本书并没有很好地老化。本研究希望通过为其明显的缺陷找到可辩护的理由，重新激发对谋杀的讨论。乘客的刻板行为不仅在叙事上分散了波洛和读者对解决方案的注意力，而且他们的缺陷也成为了衬托波洛的英雄庄严和文化价值观的正面对比。此外，批评往往忽略了一点，即乘客是在表演他们的行为，如果是这样的话，将刻板印象部署为仅仅是表演，就会破坏它们作为国家或种族身份的永久方面的稳定性。那么，《谋杀》可以被解读为一部反种族主义的作品吗?

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Text Matters-A Journal of Literature Theory and Culture LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM-

CiteScore

0.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

23 weeks

期刊介绍： Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture, based at the University of Łódź, is an international and interdisciplinary journal, which seeks to engage in contemporary debates in the humanities by inviting contributions from literary and cultural studies intersecting with literary theory, gender studies, history, philosophy, and religion. The journal focuses on textual realities, but contributions related to art, music, film and media studies addressing the text are also invited. Submissions in English should relate to the key issues delineated in calls for articles which will be placed on the website in advance. The journal also features reviews of recently published books, and interviews with writers and scholars eminent in the areas addressed in Text Matters. Responses to the articles are more than welcome so as to make the journal a forum of lively academic debate. Though Text Matters derives its identity from a particular region, central Poland in its geographic position between western and eastern Europe, its intercontinental advisory board of associate editors and internationally renowned scholars makes it possible to connect diverse interpretative perspectives stemming from culturally specific locations. Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture is prepared by academics from the Institute of English Studies with considerable assistance from the Institute of Polish Studies and German Philology at the University of Łódź. The journal is printed by Łódź University Press with financial support from the Head of the Institute of English Studies. It is distributed electronically by Sciendo. Its digital version published by Sciendo is the version of record. Contributions to Text Matters are peer reviewed (double-blind review).