University of St Andrews
Criminal Matters: The Role of Objects and Agency in Late Imperial Russian Detective Fiction
Grace Docherty is a first-year AHRC funded PhD student in the Russian Department at the University of St Andrews.
Within this research project, Grace analyses how objects exercise agency and authority within late Imperial-era Russian detective fiction. This research 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.
