On Sep 24, 2005, at 1:15 AM, Dave the Z wrote:
> I'd have to say "working-class tragedy" doesn't make
a hell of a lot
> of sense as a definition for noir. I also don't see
the connection for
> film noir either - how does that definition fit film
noir classics
> like Body Heat, Angel Heart, Chinatown, Double
Indemnity, Blade
> Runner, Godfather 2?
I'd have to agree. While a great many noirs (both film and
novel) are set in the working class, it's not a major factor
or a defining definition. These people are screwed and doomed
whether the spoon in their yaps when they were born was
silver or take-out plastic.
And Fred the Zed wrote:
> For some of rara-avians Canadians, the principal
theme of Canadian Lit
> (as
> outlined by Margaret Atwood in her non-fiction book
"Survival," 1972)
> is the
> relationship of society to its landscape. That the
Canadian psyche is
> indelibly stamped by living in a vast, sparsely
populated,
> inhospitable land
> that will kill you if you simply stand still.
"You're gonna freeze in
> hell
> forever," that sounds noir to me. Just by being
Canadian, one becomes
> noir?
Whether we want to be or not, there certainly is a dark
thread running through most of our literature... as Prof.
Schooley will no doubt elaborate on.
What's surpising, though, is that while our "literary"
literature
(Richler, McLennan, Finley, Atwood, Laurence, assorted other
Margarets) can be quite noirish, our crime fiction was often
a bit on the, uh, twee side. Not counting Macdonald and
Millar or the new breed, of course.
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.thrillingdetective.com
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
--------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite
Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/kqIolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rara-avis-l/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to:
rara-avis-l-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 20 Oct 2005 EDT