Speaking the Unspeakable:Reframing the Detective Narratives in The Final Solution and Its Aesthetic Effects
In his novella The Final Solution,Michael Chabon invokes a Holmesian detective story to explore the causes of the Holocaust during WWII.Chabon reframes the formula of classical detective stories by transforming murder cases into mass murder in the introductory part,characterizing the detective as the representative of imperialism rather than an incarnation of reason in the investigation,and elevating the voices of the Other and devaluing the authority of the detective in the denouement.This approach successfully multiplies the import of the"Final Solution,"evolving from the last case ever solved by Holmes into a"Final Solution to Jewish Question,"thus reformulating the unspeakable catastrophe.As a result,the novella subverts Western classical discourses and excavates the voices of others in the margins,forcing readers to perceive the correlations between imperialism,colonialism,rationality,and the Holocaust rather than obtaining pleasures in comfort.Meanwhile,Chabon's writing of the Holocaust is abstemious and oblique,and the reticence and silence in the reprised narrative evoke more poignancy and aesthetic feeling than mere accusation does.
The Final SolutionFinal Solution to Jewish QuestionrewritingHolocaust writingMichael Chabon
万方数据
维普
