Spinning the Tale: Spinster Detectives and the Construction of Narrative in the Miss Silver Mysteries

Yıl 2020, Cilt: 26 Sayı: 102, 317 - 328, 03.05.2020

Berkem Sağlam

https://doi.org/10.22559/folklor.1147

Öz

The concept of spinster detective is one that has been relatively understudied,
despite general contemporary interest in the detective form as an academic as well
as a popular genre. The spinster detective sub-genre has remained on the sidelines,
probably because of its utilization of an old woman as the detective. As an alternative
to the professional detective, she represents a counter figure who sits comfortably
in her chair knitting away as the events revolve around her. It is interesting to
note that the word “spinster” itself comes from the act of spinning and spinster
detectives from Miss Marple onwards have been frequently represented as old
ladies who alternatively knit, crochet, weave, spin, or embroider. This correlation
between being unmarried and “spinning” gains a poignant dimension when the
actions of detecting and spinning are considered as central to these narratives.
What the spinster detective does, in effect, is, she spins a tale; she constructs events
in such a way as to explain who committed a crime and how, by forming a narrative
out of the evidence. Her narrative is a counter narrative to the dominant presence
and construction of the professional detective. This paper aims to reveal how the
Miss Silver character in the Patricia Wentworth detective series gains narrative
presence in the novels through the act of knitting, and how she gains a legitimate
voice through this seemingly passive production.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Miss Silver, spinster detectives

Kaynakça

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