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This module will explore a range of historical, social, and political issues in the 19th, 20th and 21st century by using American crime culture as its focus. The module will use interdisciplinary methodologies to examine American culture via mediums such as literature, television, and film, and will engage with culture theory in order to establish how these forms have contributed towards the creation of a uniquely ‘American’ culture and sense of identity. The module will draw on a range of different issues and discuss the impact of race, gender, sexuality, social violence, war, historical struggles, and public conflict upon American culture.

American Crime Story 

As a 'Special Subject' module, this course will draw upon the expertise of the module director to guide students through an aspect of their own research area. This module will focus upon American 'Hard-Boiled' fiction and film in order to chart the evolution of the genre from its 19th century 'detective' origins to its 20th century post-WWI divergence with British crime fiction, before considering the evolution of the genre as distinctly American in the "American Century" (Henry Luce).

The module will incorporate a combination of crime literature, film, and television and explore a range of cultural, political, and social issues in the twentieth century using as a framework the uniquely American hard-boiled style of crime fiction. The sources will be variously read in relation to such events as Prohibition, conflict in Europe, the Vietnam War, 9/11, as well as in terms of specific issues such as gender and race. The module will be interdisciplinary, dealing with literature, pulp fiction, film, television as well as in historical, cultural, urban, and social contexts.

Module Director: Dr Sarah Trott (s.trott@yorksj.ac.uk)

Office Hours: TBC

Lecture: TBC

Seminar: TBC