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Vicente Flores Jr.

Professor Lynda Hass
Intensive Writing 37
November 6th, 2014
Conventions of the Detective Genre
According to Jerome Delamater and Ruth Prigozy in Theory and Practice of Classic
Detective Fiction, the detective genre is universally popular and is of great significance as the
world has become increasingly complex (Delamater 1). Sir Arthur Conan Doyles creation of
the character, Sherlock Holmes, has made him an iconic figure where he is directly associated
with the word detective. Doyles popularity during the Victorian era has contributed to the
popularity of the detective genre that still exists today, however, any genre goes through four
stages of genre development: primitive, where the conventions of the genre are just developing,
and the audience has yet to develop set expectations for the genre, classical, where the genre is at
its peak of popularity, the conventions of the genre receive their fullest expression, and the
audience knows what to expect, parodic, where the conventions of the genre have become so
stale and well-known, that they are laughable and ripe for parody, and revisionist, where texts
within the genre consciously question and/or reverse the established conventions created during
the classical phase. His detective stories have set the standards that all detective novels would
follow in later years with the characteristics that are expected in detective stories. These
conventions that Doyle had created through inspiration, imagination, and manipulation had
culminated into what defines the detective genre. His detective stories have set the standards that
all detective novels would follow in later years with characteristics that are expected in detective

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stories. These conventions that Doyle had created through inspiration, imagination, and
manipulation had culminated into what defines the detective genre. Through these conventions,
scholars have been able to analyze the popularity of the detective genre that has become present
in many forms such as media and television. Literary scholars such as Jerome Delamater, Ruth
Prigozy, and T.J. Binyon support that eccentric behavior and characteristics of the detective
character are of the major conventions that define the detective genre, making it different from
other types of genre.
Scholars, such as Jerome Delamater, Ruth Prigozy, and T.J. Binyon, have identified the
different conventions of the detective novels that Doyle had written that had contributed to the
genres rise and popularity. These important conventions include the detective character himself
and his characteristics. In the terms of Sherlock Holmes, a detective would display a remarkable
talent of deductions and would be an essential characteristic of a detective. In Doyles The Red
Headed League, Holmes was able to deduce information that related to his client, Mr. Jabez
Wilson such as that he [had] at some time done manual labour, that he [took] snuff, that he
[was] a Freemason, that he [had] been in China, and that he [had] done a considerable amount of
writing lately (The Red-Headed League). This was one of the many instances that Holmes
would display his incredibly talent of deduction by mere observation. It is this deductive
reasoning that contributed to the popularity of Holmes and the scientific method.
This deductive reasoning is seen as a trademark for Holmes and according to Binyons
"Murder Will Out": The Detective in Fiction, it is seen as showy displays of what, so Conan
Doyle informs us, has come to be known as Sherlockholmitos in South America (Binyon 11).
Holmes ability to do such thing popularized and perpetuated misuse of the term, deduction
(Binyon 10). However, Holmes is shown with the ability to make these deductions through a

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specific set of knowledge. Following with the convention of the detective character, the eccentric
behavior of Sherlock Holmes would define his character. This is shown through the specific
collection of knowledge and the ability to deduce anything by just observing it. According to
Jerome Delamater and Ruth Prigozy in Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction,
Holmes collection of knowledge, too, is eccentric, is some areas highly detailed and in others
demonstrating astonishing ignorance and indifference (Delamater 22). ). He possesses
comprehensive knowledge of chemistry, poisons, and sensational literature, has a good working
knowledge of British law, but eschews any non-relevant areas of scholarship that may clutter his
brain attic (Delamater 22). For example, in The Red-Headed League, Holmes is able to infer
that Mr. Wilson received his tattoo while in China since Holmes has a considerable amount of
knowledge about tattoos. However, Holmes would demonstrate ignorance at times where
Watson noted that [His] surprise reached a climax, however, when [he] found incidentally that
[Sherlock Holmes] was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar
System (A Study in Scarlet loc. 25). This displays Holmes narrow mindset on certain topics that
he deems irrelevant and of no use to him or to his work. This makes Holmes very interactive
with knowledge, but also leads to odd habits such as [conducting] chemical experiments in his
rooms, [keeping] tobacco in the toe of a [Persian] slipper, and during periods of intellectual
boredom, [using] cocaine (Delamater 22). But, it is this eccentric behavior that defined the
detective genre, along with his show way of making deductions.
Literary scholars Jerome Delamater, Ruth Prigozy, and T.J. Binyon all agree that Holmes
displays eccentric behavior and is a defining convention of the detective genre. These three
literary scholars discuss that this eccentric behavior leads to odd habits, however, [Holmes]

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corporeality and individuality are enhanced by [these] eccentricities (Binyon 10). So in effect,
these eccentricities allow Holmes to make these amazing deductions by mere observation.
The detective genre was commemorated on the basis of its narration and structure which
is considered a plot convention and is one of the many important conventions of the genre.
Mostly all the detective stories of Doyle follow a formulaic pattern that seems repetitive, but its
unique pattern lies in its double and duplicitous plot. This means that the story is narrated by
"bewildered bystanders who observe the crime and are to some extent threatened by it but who
cannot arrive at its solution" (Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction 1). In most of the
Sherlock Holmes stories, the role of the narrator was always given to Watson. This allowed for
the plot convention through narration of the detective genre to reoccur in all the Sherlock
Holmes stories. Because Watson was the narrator in most of the stories, he was relatable to the
reader since he was in no comparison like Holmes, where he was oblivious to many clues and
hints like the reader. In the chapter Doyle from An Introduction to the Detective Story by
Leroy Panek, Doyle took inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe, the creator of the detective, but led
him to eliminate many aspects of Poes writing. In contrast to Poes nameless narrator that was
never presented or involved in his detective stories, Doyle realized the uses for plot and
characterization of the detective's assistant as the narrator (Doyle 80). With Watson as the
narrator, the writer [would] use the narrator's ignorance to hide important facts and through him
[could] praise the detective and keep him civilly reticent at the same time (Doyle 80). This
allowed the writer to manipulate the plot for the reader and made the detective stories closer to a
pure narrative, which, according to George Dove in The Different Story, allowed the reader
[to approach] the narrative at the outset with much of the context already supplied (The
Different Story 24).

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Continuing with the structure convention of the detective genre, the detective genre had
to follow a repeating structure where, according to George Dove in "The Different Story,"
exhibits four qualities in which "the detective story is transitory, without long-range goals or
purposes; it is fundamentally an intellectual undertaking; it is recreational, intended primarily to
relax; and it is a disciplined, delimited literary form (The Different Story 2). For example, in the
beginning of The Hound of the Baskerville, Holmes was examining a cane left by Dr. James
Mortimer and deduced that Dr. Mortimer was a house-surgeon or a house-physician little
more than a senior student. And [had left Charing Cross Hospital] five years ago (The Hound of
the Baskerville loc. 7) without formally meeting him in the first place. These type of scenes
appear in nearly all of the Sherlock Holmes novels and all were designated in following the same
structured pattern of writing. Because of this, rules were to be followed when writing detective
novels such as writing a novel with a restricted structure and introducing expected conventions.
This makes the detective genre structured that is described by four characteristics: the detectiveprotagonist, the detection plot, the problem to be solved, and the solution (The Different Story
24). This was especially important since the audience of the detective novel during the Victorian
era were from the middle class which made authors of the detective genre write stories that were
not complicated and easy to follow, in contrast to other contemporary writers before the
Victorian era such as Edgar Allan Poe.
The detective genre provides many conventions that readers would expect, making it
uncomplicated to read and can be presented in several other forms such as media, television, or
cinema. Thus, the detective genre became extremely popular through all mediums and proves as
cultural significance to the world. From the stories of Dupin by Edgar Allan Poe to the creation
of Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle, the detective genre provides undying conventions that are

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still present in most detective novels of today and will continue to be introduced in detective
novels of the later years. According to literary scholars, these conventions, such as the eccentric
behavior of the detective character, of the detective genre are the characteristics that define the
genre and are the reason why the genre has remained popular throughout the years. As the
detective genre continues to thrive among readers, listeners, and viewers, it will also change
through as it progresses through the stages of genre development to appeal to the modern
audience. However, the matter of fact is that the convention of the eccentric behavior of the
detective character is one of the major conventions of the detective genre that provides the
foundation of the genres immense popularity.

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Works Cited
Binyon, T.J. "Murder Will Out": The Detective in Fiction. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1989. 9-12. Print.
Conan Doyle, Arthur. The Hound of the Baskervilles. Sharon, MA: Higher Read, LLC 20143.
Kindle eBook. Online.
Delamater, Jerome and Ruth Prigozy, eds. Theory and Practice of Classic Detective Fiction. New
York: Praeger, 1997. Print. PDF File.
Dove, George N. The Different Story. The Reader and the Detective Story. Bowling Green,
OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1997. PDF File.
Panek, Leroy. Beginnings. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH:
Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1987. PDF File.
Panek, Leroy. Doyle. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling
Green State University Popular Press, 1987. PDF File.