Overview
Detective fiction is recognized as an important popular cultural space for the representation of older people and their concerns. According to Hepworth, detective fiction brings focus to dangers of ageing, depicting crimes in which frailty and the need of care make older characters vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation by others. Detective fiction, however, can encourage the reader to see older people beyond their stereotypes, as many mystery plots include the uncovering of hidden, and often unexpected, pasts of older characters that insist upon their individuality. Finally, detective fiction can challenge the dominant perception of older people as an inactive and unproductive subject by presenting older characters as competent detectives (Hepworth 1993). The serialization that is common in the genre also enables representation of main characters’ ageing process. Ian Ranking’s Rebus series, for instance, depicts the...
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Filmography
Boukhrief N (dir) (2008) Cortex, les films du Worso, France
Van Looy E (dir) (2003) The memory of a killer. MMG Film and TV production, Belgium
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Sako, K. (2019). Ageing and Detective Fiction. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_248-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_248-1
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