Sherlock Holmes: Victorian Detective

Black Mask Magazine: Remaking the Detective Story

Sam Spade: Hardboiled Detective Black Mask Magazine (1920-1951): •  It was a purely money-making

investment; its creators wanted to make a quick buck

•  The magazine was printed on cheap, flimsy paper, called “pulpy” paper. That’s there the term “pulp fiction” comes from. “Pulp” magazines like Black Mask were intended to be disposable, cheap entertainment

•  While Poe and Conan Doyle’s stories were intended mainly for the middle classes, Black Mask was intended for working-class people, especially working-class men

•  The archetype of the “hardboiled” detective originated in Black Mask

The Hardboiled Detective Genre Hardboiled Men: •  Keep their

emotions under control

•  Are independent •  Are more

streetwise than book smart

•  Play it cool •  Are quick to fight •  Seek to dominate

women or effeminate man

•  Must constantly demonstrate/prove their tough masculinity, through emotional control and physical prowess

Disposable Literature: Pulp Magazines

What makes a man?

Victorian and Hardboiled Models of Ideal Masculinity

Violence and chaos meet scientific reasoning

The Angel and the Whore: Women as Femmes Fatales or Damsels in Distress