IRONY AND INVESTIGATION: RE-EVALUATING DETECTIVE ELEMENTS IN MID-TO-LATE 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN PROSE

This study analyzes how the rules of detective stories changed in American books during the middle and end of the 20th century. The main goal is to explain how writers used irony to take apart old detective ideas, like the genius investigator, the simple plot, and the clear ending. Books by famous authors such as Paul Auster and Thomas Pynchon are used as the main examples for this study. The analysis is done by looking closely at the structure of the stories and how they use parody. Standard detective tricks are identified and compared to how they appear in these newer books to see how their meaning has shifted. By comparing these two styles, the research shows a move away from the classic “who did it” stories toward “anti-detective” novels. In these books, searching for the truth feels more like a game with the reader rather than a crime that actually gets solved.