At 10:31 PM 20/10/2004 -0400, Karin wrote:
>Whereas humour is commonly held to be a redeeming
feature of either the
>noir hero or the noir book. That's what I learned
from a panel at Bouchercon.
If I may be allowed to split hairs, I don't think humour is
redemptive, but it does support tolerance. It becomes an
almost essential ingredient in noir (as you recognize by its
absence in Mankell's work) because redemption, transcendence
etc. are denied. Aspiration is frustrated, yet we endure, if
we endure, by laughing it off. This supports the observation
made elsewhere on this list that noir is more about survival
than redemption. The code of the lone-wolf detective is more
about individual survival than achieving a personal
nirvana.
Of course, humour may be said to redeem an otherwise bleak
work, if not its protagonist or the story theme.
Anyway, however hard comedy may be, humour is more verifiable
than redemption.
Best Kerry
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