OK so back in the 90s, a friend of mine was the bassist and
lead singer for an indie band. They never went anywhere (go
figure), but they had this great song that my pal wrote
called "Everyone's Alternative," an acerbic look at the
"alternative rock" movement, and how it seemed that everyone
and their dog in the pop music business was adopting the
monicker "alternative" to describe their music (especially
groups that had been categorized as glam rock hair bands just
a few years before), apparently largely because of
"alternative" music being the marketing flavor of the moment
.
I can't help but wonder whether that isn't the case with noir
fiction right now.
After all, "noir" is hot.
I sub to another list that deals strictly with historical
mysteries (another mystery sub-genre that is growing by leaps
and bounds), heavily populated by authors, and I have been
surprised lately at the use of the term "noir" to describe
the fiction that authors are plugging there. I've heard
phrases like "Roman noir" (double entre fully intended) and
"check out my new Medieval noir coming next year from
St.Martin's..."
Interestingly enough (and running against overwhelming type
with regard to the canon of noir fiction over the past
80-plus years), almost all of the authors I've heard using
these terms with regard to "historical" noir are women.
What do you folks think about this? Is Noir fiction an
anywhere, anytime (recently conquered Roman Britain, for
example, where the "mean streets" would be very, very muddy)
subgenre?
All the Best-
Brian
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