Criminal Matters: The Role of Objects and Agency in Late Imperial Russian Detective Fiction

研究问题：俄罗斯侦探小说叙事中的对象如何行使代理权和权威？俄罗斯侦探小说中对客体能动性的关注如何重塑人类和客体能动性的当代理论，使其成为有利于传统上被颠覆的演员的包容性主体？关于犯罪和调查中物体的作用，以及物体在塑造社会与这些活动的关系方面的作用，物质人工制品可以揭示什么？这个项目将从新唯物主义的角度分析俄罗斯帝国晚期侦探小说中的物体代理。这个项目挑战了权威演员的以自我为中心的概念，从而重塑了当代侦探小说和文学研究的方法。该项目主张对机构进行广泛的包容性理解，认识到在传统上公认的权威表达（如言论和运动）之外运作的行为者的重要性。通过分析鲜为人知的文学叙事中对犯罪和调查的物质文物的描述，本项目将探讨调查对象作为理解社会与犯罪关系的一种手段的影响。侦探小说中的权威问题以前曾从知识，侦探的权威来自于他们获得真相的能力，从而缩小犯罪故事和调查故事之间的差距（托多罗夫，1966年;波特，1981年）。Scholarship讨论了侦探小说叙事中的物质性，关于特定对象如何帮助文学侦探通过扩展人类能力来定位证据和解决案件（托马斯，1999;斯威尼，2003）。因此，工具和物证被认为是侦探必不可少的，直接与赠款他们权力的特殊方法联系在一起。现有的侦探小说研究只强调物体的使用，并假设侦探处于等级制度的最高地位。另一方面，本研究将考察客体如何与侦探主张同等的权威。该项目将以新唯物主义的观点为基础，重新思考物体作为有能力影响事件的重要行为者，而不是作为社会和人类行动中的被动或惰性背景。这些观点包括行动者网络理论（Latour，2005）和集合理论（Deleuze和Guattari，1980; DeLanda，2016），这些理论将行动概念化为依赖于许多物体和力量的相互作用（班尼特，2010）。例如，在某些侦探小说中，侦探通过收集、整理和展示证据来表达自己的专业知识，而与此同时，这些物品本身也蕴含着重要的信息。通过这种互动过程，展示的收藏品和侦探共同创造了调查权威。主要的原始资料将首先包括帝国时代后期的犯罪故事R。L. Antropov，A. E. Zarin，A. P.契诃夫，A. A. Shkliarevskii，S. A. Panov，N. P. P. M.索科洛夫斯基我将评估叙述中物体的影响以及它们与人类角色的互动，重点是侦探。我将运用新唯物主义的视角，探讨俄罗斯侦探小说叙事中的人类和非人类代理人是如何构成权威的。所涵盖的来源范围将允许广泛而深入地了解早期俄罗斯侦探小说中的对象是如何描绘的，并有机会在不同文本之间进行比较。可能的重点领域的章节包括：收藏的侦探;物证在解决案件的作用;对象，授予侦探访问;伪装;空间美学;和技术的检测涉及的视线或测量。

Research questions - How do objects exercise agency and authority within Russian detective fiction narratives? How can a focus on the agency of objects in Russian detective fiction reshape contemporary theories of human and object agency towards an inclusive subjectivity that benefits traditionally subverted actors? What can material artefacts reveal about the agency of objects in crime and investigation as well as the role of objects in shaping society's relationship to these activities?This project will analyse the agency of objects within late Imperial-era Russian detective fiction from a New Materialism perspective. This project challenges anthropocentric conceptions of authority actors, thereby reshaping contemporary approaches to detective fiction and literary studies. Asserting a broadly inclusive understanding of agency, this project recognises the significance of actors that operate outside traditionally acknowledged expressions of authority such as speech and movement. Analysing the depiction of material artefacts of crime and investigation within little-known literary narratives, this project will interrogate the impact of objects within investigation as a means of understanding society's relationship to crime.The question of authority in detective fiction has been previously analysed in terms of knowledge, where detectives' authority is derived from their ability to obtain truth and thus close the gap between the story of the crime and that of the investigation (Todorov, 1966; Porter, 1981). Scholarship has discussed materiality in detective fiction narratives, regarding how particular objects aid literary detectives in locating evidence and solving cases by extending human capabilities (Thomas, 1999; Sweeney, 2003). Therefore, instruments and material evidence have been recognised as essential to detectives, directly tied to the special method which grants them authority.Existing scholarship on detective fiction merely highlights the use of objects, operating under the assumption that the detective is positioned atop a hierarchy. This study, on the other hand, will examine how objects assert equal authority alongside the detective. The project will be informed by New Materialism perspectives that rethink objects as significant actors with the ability to influence events, rather than as a passive or inert background in social and human action. These perspectives include Actor-Network Theory (Latour, 2005) and assemblage theories (Deleuze and Guattari, 1980; DeLanda, 2016) that conceptualise action as dependent upon the interaction of many bodies and forces (Bennett, 2010). Within certain detective fiction narratives, for example, the detective expresses his expertise through collecting, sorting, and displaying evidence, while at the same time the objects themselves hold significant information. Through this process of interaction, displayed collections and detectives co-create investigative authority. Primary source material will initially include the late Imperial-era crime stories of R. L. Antropov, A. E. Zarin, A. P. Chekhov, A. A. Shkliarevskii, S. A. Panov, N. P. Timofeev, and N. M. Sokolovskii. I will evaluate the impact of objects within the narratives and their interactions with human characters, with emphasis on the detective. I will interrogate how authority is constituted by both human and nonhuman agents within Russian detective fiction narratives, applying a New Materialism perspective. The scope of sources covered will allow a broad yet thorough understanding of how objects are portrayed in early Russian detective fiction with opportunities for comparison between different texts. Possible areas of focus for chapters include: collections held by detectives; the role of material evidence in solving cases; objects that grant the detective access; disguises; the aesthetics of space; and technologies of detection involving sight or measurement.