FERNANDO PESSOA’S MODEL OF CRIME STORY
Keywords:
Fernando Pessoa, crime story/detective story, Portuguese literature, Novelas Policiárias [Police and Other Stories]Abstract
In the crime fiction, the theme is primarily the crime: accordingly, the narration is focused on the investigation and unraveling of the unknown details relevant to the specific criminal act. It should also be emphasized that most theoreticians believe that prose works of criminal fiction genre are characterized by linear-returning narrative, considering the fact that the uncovering of the crime directs the plot both towards the past (the time when the criminal act took place), but also towards the future (the time in which the criminal puzzle gets solved and in which the criminal is justly punished): with regard to the cause-and-effect sequence, the templated time perspective, it is a ring sequence: the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. In the classic crime genre literary piece, the key characters are the criminals and, of course, the detective, even though in the works of the best-selling author of novels in general (Agatha Christie), it is possible to detect elements that go beyond the framework of the established crime genre work (or detective story): this means that attention is paid not only to the final goal - the uncovering of the crime, but to a greater extent to the process itself, and also to a kind of psychologizing when it it comes to the person who is a criminial. The paper will try to describe the model(s) of the crime fiction story of one of the most influential Portuguese authors of the 20th century in the period of modernism, Fernando Pessoa, since his literary strategies differ greatly when he is surrounded by what we have described as a classic crime text: here we primarily mean construction the story, on a regularly disappointed horizon of expectations and when it comes to the construction of the classic roles of detective and criminal, but even more so the process of investigation that Pessoa, in accordance with his unusual literary script, will raise to a completely innovative level. Contemplation, philosophical discussions, emphasizing logic and thought processes, and the very analysis and clarification of all aspects of the art of reasoning undoubtedly go beyond the scope of a detective story. The most complete explanation of this text would be that it represents a theoretical-scientific approach to the crime/detective story, actually its crucial links, with e exemplifications. The autoanalytical monologue becomes the fundamental method both for uncovering of the crime and for building the character of the investigator. The research is focused on reading Quaresma's Police stories from the collection Novelas Policiárias [Police and Other Stories] and detecting elements of the crime fiction genre, as well as elements that leave this framework and in some way have a subversive effect on the genre itself. This research is primarily focused on the analysis of Pessoa's crime stories and their comparison with the classic crime/detective story model. The differences that would appear in the process of comparative reading would represent the basis for the description of Pessoa's model of the crime story.
References
Cavender, G., & Jurik, N. (2022). The Appeal of the Crime Genre. Oxford Academic. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/41333/chapter/352355157.
Galić, A. (2019). Između tradicije i avangardne inovacije u Knjizi nemira Fernanda Pessoe. Diploma paper. Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku. Filozofski fakultet.
Green, M. (2022). Crime Fiction Theory: The 3 Structure Theory. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@morgangreeneauthor/crime-fiction-theory-the-3-structure-theory-59d3018f9eb3.
Ivanović, J. (2018). Poetički i filozofski fragmenti kod Fernanda Pessoe. Diploma paper. Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za komparativnu književnost, Zagreb.
Lasić, S. (1973). Poetika kriminalističkog romana. Liber – Mladost.
Mandić, I. (2015). Principi krimića: konture jednog trivijalnog žanra. V.B.Z.
Matković, S. (2018). The Conventins of Detective Fiction or why like Detective Novels: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas. Anafora. V 2, 445–460.
Pavličić, P. (2008). Sve što znam o krimiću. Ex libris.
Pessoa, F. (2002). Policijske i druge priče. Konzor.
Škreb, Z. (1981). O trivijalnoj književnosti i detektivskom romanu. In: Književnost i povijesni svijet, O trivijalnoj književnosti i detektivskom romanu. Školska knjiga.
Talan, N. (2012). Fernando Pessoa: život. Disput.
Talan, N. (2013). Fernando Pessoa: djelo. Disput.
Tarbuk, T. (2002). Uvod. In: Pessoa, Fernando. Policijske i druge priče. Konzor. 5–10.
Todorov, T. (1967). Tipologija detektivske fikcije.
Žmegač, V. (1976). Književno stvaralaštvo i povijest društva. Liber.