This thesis examines the development of the crime genre in Slovenia, Western Europe, and the United States, , from its beginnings in the 19th century up to the end of World War II. First, we will present the theory of the genre and review its development by placing it in the broader social context that influenced the formation of the genre. Special attention is given to the parallels and differences between the classical detective novel and the genre in Slovenia in the pre-war period. We analyze the texts of Jakob Alešovec, Fran Milčinski, Ljuba Prenner, and Ivo Šorli, examine their reception and significance, and place them in an international context. The task showed that the pre-war Slovenian crime novels reject the scheme of the brilliant detective and rational deduction and establishes itself as a genre hybrid with a distinctly anti-detective and socially critical tone. The texts under consideration use satire, parody, and emphasis on institutional failure to expose corruption, incompetence, and moral hypocrisy in Slovenian society and the legal system. The thesis contributes to the reevaluation of selected works that have been largely considered »trivial literature« in literary history and understands them as one of the means of social criticism and reflection, by which the genre is comparable to the subversive trends of the genre elsewhere.
The theoretical part defines the genre and it's theory and presents an overview of its development and the social conditions that influenced its emergence, both in Slovenia and in the international arena. Particular attention is paid to the parallels and differences between the classic detective novel and the Slovenian pre-war genre. The empirical part analyzes the crime novels of Jakob Alešovec, Fran Milčinski, Ljuba Prenner, and Ivo Šorli, examining their reception and significance, and situating them within the international context. The research has shown that the Slovenian pre-war crime novel rejects the trope of the genius detective and rational deduction, establishing itself as a genre hybrid with a distinct anti-detective and socio-critical stance. Through satire, parody, and the highlighting of institutional failure, these works expose the corruption, incompetence, and moral duplicity of the contemporary Slovenian society and legal system. This thesis contributes to the re-evaluation of these works, which were often marginalized in literary history as "trivial literature", thereby proving their role as an important means of social criticism and reflection, comparable to broader European trends of genre subversion.
|
