What is noir? Says the OED: A genre of crime film or detective fiction characterized by cynicism,
sleaziness, fatalism, and moral ambiguity; film noir. Also: a film or
novel in this genre.
Does that help? Didn't think so.
----- Original Message ----
From: jacquesdebierue <jacquesdebierue@yahoo.com>
To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 2:31:36 PM
Subject: RARA-AVIS: Re: Super Heroes, Comics, and Noir
--- In rara-avis-l@ yahoogroups. com, "Sandra Ruttan" <sandraruttan@ ...>
wrote:
>
> Is motivation a critical component in defining any genre or subgenre?
It depends on how it is presented. Some characters are enigmatic, you
don't know why they do what they do, and perhaps they themselves don't
know. And other are presented in such a contradictory (or complex) way
that motivation cannot be extricated. I am thinking of Connelly's
Lincoln lawyer, for example. Is he merely greedy? Does he mainly want
to succeed? Who is he? What does he care about? It's not at all clear
by the end of the book. Maybe Connelly plans to bring him back in the
future... he could do it because the character remains enigmatic.
Best,
smt
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