Call for Submissions - American "Golden Age" Mystery and Detective Fiction 1920 - 1945

 Call for Submissions

Third issue of Mean Streets: A Journal of American Crime and Detective Fiction

Topic: AMERICAN “GOLDEN AGE” MYSTERY AND DETECTIVE FICTION 1920-1945

Proposals: July 15, 2021

Final essays: December 1, 2021

The “Golden Age” of mystery and detective fiction is generally agreed upon as bounded by World War I and World War II. While the designation is widely applied to both British and American fiction of the period, it has most closely adhered to British fiction, perhaps because American crime writing in the period was sharply bifurcated between Classical and Hard-boiled writing. Indeed, Stephen Wright claims that “It was in Britain that the clue-puzzle had its richest development” and also traces the important revision of narrative structure that became known as the “inverted” story to an English writer. So, in what lay the contribution of American writers? Are there unique features in their offerings to the Classical detective narrative? Is there any cross-fertilization (or creative friction) between Classical and Hard-boiled practices? Do the circumstances of American life and culture of the period produce qualities notably different from British narratives?

Some possible approaches:

• Interrogate the question: Is there an American Golden Age?

• Thematic explorations

• Contemporary resurgence of Golden Age interest/popularity

• Contributions of particular American publishers to Golden Age popularity and/or rediscovery (e.g., Rue Morgue Press, Library of Congress Crime Classics)

• Juxtaposition of Classic and Hard-boiled fiction in the period

• Analysis of the critical receptions of American writers by British critics

• Selected authors associated with the period

  Anthony Abbot	Stuart Palmer
  Anne Austin	Zelda Popkin
  Hugh Austin	Ellery Queen
  Earl Derr Biggers	Patrick Quentin
  Anthony Boucher	Virginia Rath
  John Dickson Carr	Clayton Rawson
  Clyde B. Clason	Mary Roberts Rinehart
  Dorothy Cameron Disney	Mabel Seeley
  Todd Downing	Rex Stout
  Mignon Eberhart	Kay Cleaver Strahan
  Erle Stanley Gardner	John Stephen Strange
  Frances Noyes Hart	Phoebe Atwood Taylor
  C. Daly King	Darwin Teilhet
  Rufus King	S.S. Van Dine
  Helen McCloy	Carolyn Wells

  Abstracts of 250 words with proposed title should be directed no later than July 15, 2021, to the editors: Rebecca Martin (doc.rmartin@gmail.com) and Walter Raubicheck (wraubicheck@pace.edu).

  Final papers of 7000-8000 words will be due by December 1, 2021, with publication anticipated in spring 2022. Feel free to send questions to both editors.

  About Mean Streets

  This journal is published by the Pace University Press (New York City), which has been sponsoring scholarly journals since the 1980s.

  Mean Streets is a refereed journal edited by two scholars in literature and film and guided by an Editorial Board comprised of distinguished scholars from several disciplines. Submissions will be reviewed by the editors and selected Board members.

  The journal’s first issue appeared in spring 2020, with the second issue anticipated in June 2021. Copies may be ordered at press.pace.edu/journals/mean-streets/.