Harry Lavender: Subverting The Popular Culture Genre
The Life and Times of Harry Lavender – Related Text
Bill Simon – Subverting the Popular Culture Genre
• Marele Day: “it allowed a greater questioning of traditional roles” – On Writing a Feminist Detective Novel
• Representation of female roles in our society is an important issue in this text
• Use of this genre accommodates the visualisation of the city of Sydney
• Day’s feminist concerns are expressed through her subversion of the male dominated hard boiled detective genre
• Popular culture tends to walk a very fine line between invention and convention and this is perhaps the reason why a genre can be successful in conveying an author’s message
• Valentine proves through her actions alone that she is as good a conventional (‘male’) …show more content…
Is this a conscious decision on the author’s behalf to deprive her detective of the masculinist phallic accessory that the genre demands? Or, is it Claudia’s physical fitness, wit and cunning can outsmart most of her opponents without resorting to physical violence?
• Claudia does battle with the ‘gun’ in the climatic sauna scene, with both women naked, signifying that both women are stripped of their status, relying instead on cunning and pure strength. Curiously, Sally (Harry’s illegitimate daughter) introduces the gun into this scene, and she is a beautiful model – an object of male fantasy. Claudia strikes her on the face to attack the superficial reality so valued by Sally and her cohorts. On a literal level, this scene is a test of the heroine, and she succeeds in conquering the villain. On a more significant level, the participants in the scene, the setting and the symbolism imbued within the characters make this scene …show more content…
The blonde slept on. Thank god the black suit was hanging in the wardrobe”. By using no specific gender, the reader is coaxed into assuming the protagonist is a male, like all conventional hard boiled detectives. This is intentional, with Day questioning traditional constructions and perceptions of gender roles both within and outside the conventions of the genre.
• Claudia serves as a feminist ideal, whilst not preaching or acting as a politically correct prototype. We become aware of Claudia’s sexuality and vulnerability through her relationship with Steve.
• The pop culture genre allows Day to physically map the city of Sydney. Day exposes the corruption of the city as a direct contrast to rural areas, where incidentally Claudia’s children happily reside
• Claudia unveils Sydney from an insider’s perspective, yet endows it with a sense of the exotic that only outsiders usually perceive.
• This text provides a new way of examining ourselves, our city and the values that dominate our ideology
Christy Hong – Is The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender a typical detective genre?
• A novel of literary merit that subverts the male dominated detective
Bill Simon – Subverting the Popular Culture Genre
• Marele Day: “it allowed a greater questioning of traditional roles” – On Writing a Feminist Detective Novel
• Representation of female roles in our society is an important issue in this text
• Use of this genre accommodates the visualisation of the city of Sydney
• Day’s feminist concerns are expressed through her subversion of the male dominated hard boiled detective genre
• Popular culture tends to walk a very fine line between invention and convention and this is perhaps the reason why a genre can be successful in conveying an author’s message
• Valentine proves through her actions alone that she is as good a conventional (‘male’) …show more content…
Is this a conscious decision on the author’s behalf to deprive her detective of the masculinist phallic accessory that the genre demands? Or, is it Claudia’s physical fitness, wit and cunning can outsmart most of her opponents without resorting to physical violence?
• Claudia does battle with the ‘gun’ in the climatic sauna scene, with both women naked, signifying that both women are stripped of their status, relying instead on cunning and pure strength. Curiously, Sally (Harry’s illegitimate daughter) introduces the gun into this scene, and she is a beautiful model – an object of male fantasy. Claudia strikes her on the face to attack the superficial reality so valued by Sally and her cohorts. On a literal level, this scene is a test of the heroine, and she succeeds in conquering the villain. On a more significant level, the participants in the scene, the setting and the symbolism imbued within the characters make this scene …show more content…
The blonde slept on. Thank god the black suit was hanging in the wardrobe”. By using no specific gender, the reader is coaxed into assuming the protagonist is a male, like all conventional hard boiled detectives. This is intentional, with Day questioning traditional constructions and perceptions of gender roles both within and outside the conventions of the genre.
• Claudia serves as a feminist ideal, whilst not preaching or acting as a politically correct prototype. We become aware of Claudia’s sexuality and vulnerability through her relationship with Steve.
• The pop culture genre allows Day to physically map the city of Sydney. Day exposes the corruption of the city as a direct contrast to rural areas, where incidentally Claudia’s children happily reside
• Claudia unveils Sydney from an insider’s perspective, yet endows it with a sense of the exotic that only outsiders usually perceive.
• This text provides a new way of examining ourselves, our city and the values that dominate our ideology
Christy Hong – Is The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender a typical detective genre?
• A novel of literary merit that subverts the male dominated detective