“Detective” mode of theoretical-literary research

Scholarly research is frequently likened to an investigation, a parallel deeply rooted in lexicography. However, this paper posits that research in the humanities is not merely a cognitive activity but a specific mode of discourse. Given that the humanities rely on natural rather than formal language, the researcher must often navigate “non-scientific” communicative parameters, such as reader engagement. Consequently, the author argues that it is more productive to compare theoretical research not with criminological procedures, but with the narrative structure of a detective story. Gérard Genette’s seminal work, “The Boundaries of Narrative” (“Frontières du récit”), is analyzed using analytical tools typically reserved for criminal prose (drawing on the frameworks of N. D. Tamarchenko, N. N. Kirilenko, and O. V. Fedunina). Genette’s text reveals hallmark features of detective storytelling: the enigma-resolution dichotomy (problem formulation and solution), the verification of versions (review and critique of competing viewpoints), and the use of evidence (literary phenomena acting as “symptoms” of universal narrative properties). Furthermore, the study identifies the presence of the “Great Detective” figure, as the theorist implicitly asserts a sense of intellectual exceptionalism by debunking stereotypes to uncover the truth. While a “detective” mode might seem more naturally suited to historical-literary research (the search for empirical “clues”), this study demonstrates that it functions as an external rhetorical model. By applying this lens to a purely theoretical text, the author highlights the “indifference” of the detective mode to the specific subject matter, proving its status as a universal communicative strategy in scholarly discourse.

Exceptionalism · Mode (computer interface) · Narrative · Natural (archaeology) · Rhetoric · Rhetorical question · Subject (documents) · Crime and Detective Fiction Studies · Narrative Theory and Analysis · Vladimir Nabokov Literary Studies