I consider British Detective Fiction to be a wrap-up for my avid love for detective novels. My previous English courses focused on a particular time period and place, while British Detective Fictions focuses on a certain genre of literature work. In this class, we explore the rich history of British detective fiction from the Victorian era to today. From the famous series of Sherlock Holmes to Strong Poison, we walk through the history of Britain from the aspect of industrialization, colonization, and British citizen’s daily life in the 19th century. Through the projects and papers, I learned about the development of British detective fiction and its way to the alleged downfall. As a class, we analyzed clues and read a variety of opinion pieces regarding the novels. Through writing analytical journals of the work, we gained a deeper understanding of the author’s writing method to engage the audience in the book.
My favorite book we’ve read this year is The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, which tells the story of a lost yellow diamond. Under the disguise of a detective story, lies a compassionate heart of the author Wilkie Collins. The historical background of this fiction is right at the period of British colonization to its Indian colonies, where the British soldiers pillaged Indian palaces and took away the precious national treasure, which is depicted vividly at the start of The Moonstone. Through the fiction, the author showed his sympathy for the fate of the Indian people, and the plot of the last chapter where the yellow diamond is returned to India by the three mysterious guardians is the author’s advocation for colonialism. The projects of this class are also very interesting; during our salon project, every group of students presented their research on the historical background of the fiction, introducing the British lifestyle. During my project, I focused on the common use of opium in England and Britain’s opium war with China, which signaled the start of the rough modern history of China. It is always interesting to see fictional work reflect the history of real-life, British Detective Fictions has granted me this enjoyable experience on one of my favorite literature topics.