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Author Hepburn, Allan.

Title Intrigue : espionage and culture / Allan Hepburn
Published New Haven : Yale University Press, [2005]
©2005

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Description 1 online resource (xvii, 327 pages)
Contents Spies : a theory of intrigue -- Thrills : fear and catharsis as ideological effects -- Codes : self-evident meaning in narratives of intrigue -- Ghosts : illegitimacy and commitment in Under western eyes -- Sewers : fantasies of death and disgust in The third man -- Collaborations : love and war in The heat of the day -- Walls : The spy who came in from the cold as allegory -- Leaks : fighting the queer cold war in The untouchable -- Disappearances : missing bodies in Sabbatical -- Democracy : the death of a spy -- Conclusion: Little Rooms
Summary 'Intrigue' examines the tradition of the spy narrative in the 20th century, setting the historical contexts for the main themes of the genre, such as the Cambridge spy ring & the Profumo Affair. Hepburn offers a systematic theory of the conventions & attractions of espionage fiction
Why do spies have such cachet in the twentieth century? Why do they keep reinventing themselves? What do they mean in a political process? This book examines the tradition of the spy narrative from its inception in the late nineteenth century through the present day. Ranging from John le Carré's bestsellers to Elizabeth Bowen's novels, from James Bond to John Banville's contemporary narratives, Allan Hepburn sets the historical contexts of these fictions: the Cambridge spy ring; the Profumo Affair; the witch-hunts against gay men in the civil service and diplomatic corps in the 1950s. Instead of focusing on the formulaic nature of the genre, Intrigue emphasizes the responsiveness of spy stories to particular historical contingencies. Hepburn begins by offering a systematic theory of the conventions and attractions of espionage fiction and then examines the British and Irish tradition of spy novels. A final section considers the particular form that American spy narratives have taken as they have cross-fertilized with the tradition of American romance in works such as Joan Didion's Democracy andJohn Barth's Sabbatical. -- Publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-321) and index
Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
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SUBJECT Englisch, ... gnd
Subject Spy stories, English -- History and criticism
American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism
English fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism
Spy stories, American -- History and criticism
Espionage, American -- History -- 20th century
Espionage, British -- History -- 20th century
Spy films -- History and criticism
Espionage in literature.
Spies in literature.
American fiction -- 20th century.
English fiction -- 20th century.
Espionage, American.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- European -- English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- General.
American fiction
English fiction
Espionage, American
Espionage, British
Espionage in literature
Spies in literature
Spy films
Spy stories, American
Spy stories, English
Spionagefilm
Spionagegeschichte
Fictie.
Engels.
Amerikaans.
Spionageverhalen.
Spionagefilms.
Spionage.
Spionnen.
Literature.
USA
Englisch.
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2004015680
ISBN 9780300148480
0300148488
9780300104981
0300104987
9781282437524
1282437526