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Darkness Calls

A Critical Investigation of Neo-Noir

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Sue Short

    1. Birkbeck University of London, London, UK

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  • Presents an original approach to addressing neo-noir’s appeal
  • Discusses films and television series that have not been included in published works of this kind
  • Provides an accessible gateway into the topic while still being of interest to fans, students and lecturers

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
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  2. Introduction: In Pursuit of the Neo-Noir

    • Sue Short
    Pages 1-41

  3. Crime, Corruption and Social Critique: A Thematic Overview of Noir

    • Sue Short
    Pages 43-82

  4. Conflict and Crisis: Masculinity and Noir

    • Sue Short
    Pages 83-114

  5. Fear and Fantasy: Women in Noir

    • Sue Short
    Pages 115-147

  6. Noir by Any Other Name?: Generic Confusion and Diffusion

    • Sue Short
    Pages 149-181

  7. A Lighter Shade of Noir: Differing Uses of Comedy

    • Sue Short
    Pages 183-210

  8. Fatalism vs Free Will: Nihilism and Noir

    • Sue Short
    Pages 211-235

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 237-261
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Keywords

About this book

This book examines the contrasting forms neo-noir has taken on screen, asking what prompts our continued interest in tales of criminality and moral uncertainty. Neo-noir plots are both familiar and diverse, found in a host of media formats today, and now span the globe. Yet despite its apparent prevalence—and increased academic attention—many core questions remain unanswered. What has propelled noir’s appeal, half a century on after its supposed decline? What has led film-makers and series-creators to rework given tropes? What debates continue to divide critics? And why are we, as viewers, so drawn to stories that often show us at our worst? Referencing a range of films and series, citing critical work in the field—while also challenging many of the assumptions made—this book sets out to advance our understanding of a subject that has fascinated audiences and academics alike. Theories relating to gender identity and neo-noir’s tricky generic status are discussed, together with an evaluation of differing comic inflections and socio-political concerns, concluding that, although neo-noir is capable of being both progressive and reactionary, it also mobilises potentially radical questions about who we are and what we might be capable of.


Authors and Affiliations

  • Birkbeck University of London, London, UK

    Sue Short

About the author

Sue Short is a lecturer and writer and has an Honorary Research Fellowship at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. Prior publications include Cyborg Cinema (2004), Misfit Sisters: Screen Horror as Female Rites of Passage (2006), Cult Telefantasy Series (2011) and Fairy Tale and Film: Old Tales with a New Spin (2015).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Darkness Calls

  • Book Subtitle: A Critical Investigation of Neo-Noir

  • Authors: Sue Short

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13807-3

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-13806-6Published: 02 October 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-13809-7Published: 02 October 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-13807-3Published: 14 September 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VIII, 261

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Genre, Culture and Gender

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