Between the Spheres: Siegfried Kracauer and the Detective Novel

Presented is a reading of Siegfried Kracauer's The Detective Novel, in which a sociological theory of the spheres of reality is developed. Completed in 1925, Kracauer's book begins with a structural analysis of higher & lower spheres of human existence, & goes on to suggest that the detective novel reflects the fragmentation of meaning in modern societies. By treating the detective novel as a modern allegorical form, Kracauer offers a substantive critique of formal reason & idealist philosophy. He sees the action of the detective as a series of rational thought experiments on a reality reduced to fortuitous happenings. It is concluded that the uniqueness of Kracauer's analysis stems from his interpretation of the allegory of a world dominated by a formal rationality which guarantees that the allure of the detective novel transcends specific socioeconomic formations. 35 References. W. Howard