The dissertation is devoted to studying the
specific features of intertextuality in the
detective fiction of Agatha Christie.
The aim of the study is to identify the
specificity of intertextuality realization, to
determine its manifestations and functions
within the artistic space of Christie's detective
fiction.
The scientific novelty of the dissertation lies
in providing a comprehensive analysis of
intertextuality as an architectonic foundation
of Christie's detective fiction, refining the
typology and functions of paratextual and
architextual markers in her works.
The research material comprises a corpus of
intertextual elements extracted from 41
Christie’s pieces.
The term intertextuality, introduced into
scholarly discourse by J. Kristeva in the
1960s, has evolved from a narrowly defined
concept in literary studies into a broader
cultural category. Today, it denotes the
universal capacity of all types of texts
(literary, visual, and audiovisual) to interact
with one another, thereby establishing
semantic and structural interdependence.
Recognizing the pervasive intertextuality of
literature, contemporary scholars have
expanded the scope of research beyond
postmodern texts to include works from
earlier historical periods and diverse stylistic
traditions. Consequently, forms of literature
that were previously regarded as "marginal",
including detective fiction, have become
legitimate objects of scholarly inquiry.
Detective fiction was viewed as a form of
popular literature devoid of profound meaning
or high aesthetic value, a genre intended
merely for casual entertainment, and therefore
it remained outside the mainstream of literary
scholarship. Contemporary research, however,
increasingly conceptualizes detective fiction
as a flexible generic model capable of
integrating aesthetic, epistemological, and
sociocultural dimensions in addressing topical
issues.
The genre conventions were codified by the
London Detection Club during Golden Age of
detective fiction. The detective model is
structured around a rational quest for truth in
which the detective emerges as an exceptional
individual who restores order to a seemingly
chaotic world.
The genre's receptive potential is grounded in
the combination of a hermeneutic game,
which requires readers to decode textual
signs, and engages them through suspense and
empathy. Owing to the ordered nature of its
fictional world and the inevitable restoration
of justice in the end, detective fiction
performs important stabilizing, escapist, and
therapeutic functions.
The reassessment of Christie's creative legacy
has demonstrated that the formulaic nature of
her fiction should not be regarded as evidence
of aesthetic flaw. Rather, it constitutes a
flexible instrument of experimentation that
blurs the boundaries between elite modernism
and popular culture, thereby legitimizing
detective fiction as literature of genuine
artistic merit.
Genre modernization in Christie's oeuvre
occurs due to the expansion of detective
poetics through the incorporation of devices
borrowed from other literary and cultural
systems. Christie transcends the conventional
boundaries of the classical detective story by
transforming the puzzle mystery into an
intellectually sophisticated novel of manners,
where elements of the high cultural canon
(including Shakespearean drama, classical
poetry, and biblical archetypes) interact with
folklore models, such as nursery rhymes, to
deepen psychological characterization and
philosophical reflection on human nature.
In Christie's works, intertextuality is realized
at the level of the paratext, which functions as
a semiotic threshold between the unsettling
reality of crime and the ordered fictional
universe of fiction. The titles of her works
possess a pronounced pragmatic and
multimodal character, functioning as
"predictive formulas" of the plot. Epigraphs,
dedications, and graphic paratextual elements
reinforce the hermetic nature of the fictional
world, encouraging retrospective
interpretation while enhancing the reader's
intellectual satisfaction.
The architextual dimension of Christie's
fiction operates both horizontally and
vertically. On the one hand, the compositional
framework, chronotope, and rational
conception of crime affirm its adherence to
the conventions of Golden Age detective
fiction. On the other hand, references to
canonical texts of world literature not only
contribute to the characterization of detectives
but also intensify reader engagement by
providing clues or “red herrings” through
allusions to literary classics.
