Abstract
Patricia Highsmith remains the epitome of the psychologically focused crime fiction author, renowned for her ability to convey extraordinarily high levels of anxiety within and through her novels, not just in the minds of her, often hapless, protagonists but also in those of her readers. However, I will be arguing here that she also deserves recognition as an antecedent of the recent ‘domestic noir’ subgenre. While Highsmith’s protagonists are predominantly male, my contention is that this is no impediment to the particularly ‘feminine’ discourse that she evokes throughout many of her texts.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Julia Crouch, “Genre Bender”, 25 August 2013, http://juliacrouch.co.uk/blog/genre-bender
- 2.
“Why Crime Fiction Is Leftwing and Thrillers Are Rightwing”, The Guardian, accessed 16 June 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/apr/01/why-crime-fiction-is-leftwing-and-thrillers-are-rightwing
- 3.
Alexandra Alter, “Wall Street Journal Book Club: Gillian Flynn on Patricia Highsmith”, Wall Street Journal, 24 April 2014, https://www.wsj.com/articles/wall-street-journal-book-club-gillian-flynn-on-patricia-highsmith-1398362234
- 4.
In Fiona Peters, Anxiety and Evil in the Writings of Patricia Highsmith (Burlington, VA: Routledge, 2011), p. 5.
- 5.
Alexandra Alter, “Wall Street Journal Book Club: Gillian Flynn on Patricia Highsmith”, Wall Street Journal, 24 April 2014, https://www.wsj.com/articles/wall-street-journal-book-club-gillian-flynn-on-patricia-highsmith-1398362234
- 6.
Patricia Highsmith, Deep Water (London: Penguin, 1974), p. 52.
- 7.
Ibid., p. 34.
- 8.
Ibid., p. 242.
- 9.
Andrew Wilson, Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith (London: Bloomsbury, 2003), p. 246.
- 10.
Jacques Lacan, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis. Trans. Alan Sheridan (New York: Norton, 1981), p. 205.
- 11.
Jacques Lacan, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis. Trans. Alan Sheridan (New York: Norton, 1981), p. 205.
- 12.
Slavoj Žižek, “Otto Weininger, or ‘Woman Doesn’t Exist’” in The Metastasis of Enjoyment: Six Essays on Women and Causality (London: Verso, 1994), p. 155.
- 13.
Sarah Kay, Žižek: A Critical Introduction (Cambridge: Polity, 2003), p. 86.
- 14.
Fiona Peters, Anxiety and Evil in the Writings of Patricia Highsmith (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 45.
- 15.
Patricia Highsmith, Deep Water (London: Penguin, 1974), p. 259.
- 16.
Patricia Highsmith, Deep Water (London: Penguin, 1974), p. 27.
- 17.
Patricia Highsmith, Deep Water (London: Penguin, 1974), p. 117.
- 18.
Fiona Peters, Anxiety and Evil in the Writings of Patricia Highsmith (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 117.
- 19.
Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley (London: Penguin 1985), p. 160.
- 20.
Fiona Peters, Anxiety and Evil in the Writings of Patricia Highsmith (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 146.
- 21.
Slavoj Žižek, ‘The Talented Mr Ripley: When Straight Means Weird and Psychosis is Normal’, https://www.scribd.com/document/153248000/Zizek-Slavoj-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-When-Straight-Means-Weird-and-Psychosis-is-Normal
Works Cited
Alter, Alexandra, ‘Wall Street Journal Book Club: Gillian Flynn on Patricia Highsmith’, Wall Street Journal, 24 April 2014. https://www.wsj.com/articles/wall-street-journal-book-club-gillian-flynn-on-patricia-highsmith-1398362234.
Crouch, Julia, ‘Genre Bender’, Julia Crouch, 25 August 2013. http://juliacrouch.co.uk/blog/genre-bender.
Highsmith, Patricia, Deep Water (London, Penguin, 1974).
Highsmith, Patricia, The Talented Mr Ripley (London, Penguin, 1986).
Kay, Sarah, Žižek: A Critical Introduction (Cambridge, Polity, 2003).
Lacan, Jacques, The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis. Trans. Alan Sheridan (New York, Norton, 1981).
McDermid, Val, ‘Why Crime Fiction Is Leftwing and Thrillers Are Rightwing’, The Guardian, 1 April 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/apr/01/why-crime-fiction-is-leftwing-and-thrillers-are-rightwing [accessed 16 June 2017].
Peters, Fiona, Anxiety and Evil in the Writings of Patricia Highsmith (Burlington, VA, Routledge, 2011).
Wilson, Andrew, Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith (London, Bloomsbury, 2003).
Women’s Aid, ‘How Common Is Domestic Abuse?’, Women’s Aid. https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/how-common-is-domestic-abuse/[accessed 16 June 2017].
Žižek, Slavoj, ‘Otto Weininger, or, “Woman Doesn’t Exist”’ in The Metastases of Enjoyment: Six Essays on Woman and Causality (London, Verso, 1994).
Žižek, Slavoj, ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley—When Straight Means Weird and Psychosis Is Normal’. https://www.scribd.com/document/153248000/Zizek-Slavoj-The-Talented-Mr-Ripley-When-Straight-Means-Weird-and-Psychosis-is-Normal [accessed 16 June 2017].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Peters, F. (2018). The Literary Antecedents of Domestic Noir. In: Joyce, L., Sutton, H. (eds) Domestic Noir. Crime Files. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69338-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69338-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69337-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69338-5
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)