earticle

영어

Considering her reputation for having a modernist and experimental writing style, it is noteworthy that Gertrude Stein wrote a detective novel, a popular genre which is usually characterized by its linear progression of plot and staple formulas. Yet, while Blood on the Dining-Room Floor has the traditional elements of a detective story, such as a dead body, a witness, and a detective, the text appropriates and twists the genre not only to engage readers to the case but also to locate them in the detective’s role. Unlike traditional detective stories, where readers passively follow the detective’s reasoning, Blood on the Dining-Room Floor neither has a detective with whom the reader can identify, nor one who solves the case. Useless information and unrelated events are mixed with clues, and, most of all, the murder mystery remains unsolved. Following the atypical investigation of Blood on the Dining-Room Floor, the paper aims to explain the ways in which the text exploits the genre of detective fiction and show the striking reading experiences of the reader. What this paper ultimately wants to suggest is that, through fragments of memories, untrustworthy information, and a distorted timeline, the reader puzzles out the pieces, performs the role of the detective, and experiences “uncertainty,” all of which engender multiple interpretations and stories.