Some criticize the genre of the ironic detective story, considering it cheap literature written especially for the masses. Others admire and defend these works. But not everyone knows that this genre has a rather deep history, and is not limited by the framework of Dontsova, Polyakova and other famous authors.
The emergence of an ironic detective in the world
As you know, Edgar Poe is considered the founder of the detective genre, however, attempts to “dress up” the plot of the book are known before him. The emergence of this genre caused a storm of indignation, which has not subsided until now. Even when the genre began to develop and divide into directions.
Poe's first detective stories were Murder on the Rue Morgue (1841), The Secret of Mary Roger (1842), The Stolen Letter (1844), etc.
In the era of postmodernism, the detective genre is undergoing decline and subsequent changes, which is the reason for the emergence of an ironic detective story. The texts themselves are a kind of parody of classic detective stories, the situations described are full of humor and self-irony of the character.
The founders of this genre can be considered Gaston Leroux (the novel "The Enchanted Chair", written in 1909), Georgette Heyer with the novel "The Fatal Ring" (1936). The Hungarian writer Paul Howard (real name - Ene Reito) created several works during his short life (1905-1943) and became the most famous author of ironic detective stories.
About fifteen of his novels are known in Russia, including The Secret of the Diamond Coast, The Three Musketeers in Africa, Indian Summer of the Bearbear, The Golden Car, The Adventures of Fred's Dirty, and others.
An ironic detective in Russia
Russia, as you know, adopts a lot from the West. Not without it in the literature. Ironically, the detective came to our country thanks to the novels of the Polish writer Joanna Chmielewska. Her first work was published in 1964 - "Wedge by wedge". And the author immediately won the love of readers. Joanna worked for the rest of her life and, dying in 2013, left behind not only sixty of her works, but also a huge number of unpublished manuscripts.
The follower of Ioanna Khmelevskaya can be considered the ancestor of the Russian ironic detective - Daria Dontsova. Her novels began to appear in the late 90s and gained immense popularity. Her heroines, like the heroines of Khmelevskaya, from book to book fell into unpleasant, sometimes even ridiculous, detective stories that they had to unravel.
At one time, rising to the peak of popularity, Dontsova was attacked by envious people. It was said that a brigade of slave writers wrote on it, or that it did not exist at all. And all these novels are written by a man. However, the writer took all this with humor. Having survived cancer, Daria decided to change her main activity - teaching French - to literary creation, and now she is the owner of several book awards. And the blame for everything is great ability to work.
In addition, in the development of this genre in Russia, one can pay tribute to such authors as Galina Kulikova and Tatiana Polyakova.
