Explore UCD

UCD Home >

ENG31780

Academic Year 2026/2027

Contemporary European Crime Fiction (ENG31780)

Subject:
English
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
English, Drama & Film
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Maria Stuart
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

As a group of colleagues in the School who have a longstanding interest in crime fiction, this course is an opportunity for us to explore a continuously changing field (contemporary European crime fiction) with you.

We ask what this genre tells us about our contemporary moment and the often unacknowledged or unresolved historical events that shape it. As a genre that is deeply engaged with the past (with questions around 'what really happened' at a given place and time), crime fiction is particularly well-placed to address how a hidden or suppressed past continues to make it presence felt in unexpected ways.

Crime fiction is also a genre that engages with different/shifting cultural constructions of criminality, policing, and victims. It interrogates not just individual actions and experiences but the broader systemic forces that shape our understanding of crime and punishment. In particular, it asks us to consider how structures of power and authority (social, political, cultural, economic) interact with concepts of difference (gendered, sexual, class-based, racial, ethnic). As such, it encourages you to draw on some of the critical approaches encountered earlier in your degree (e.g., aspects of Marxism, Affect Theory, Queer Theory, Critical Race Theory and Feminism).

Students registered to ENG 32020 Detecting Fictions: The Crime Novel in Britain, America and Ireland, should NOT register for this module.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the contemporary European crime novel through analysis of a range of texts across differing cultural contexts.
2. Engage with key critical and theoretical concepts relating to constructions of 'criminality' and 'justice', national identities, race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class, and their representation within contemporary crime narratives.
3. Apply such concepts and contexts to close analysis of the course texts (primary and secondary), analysis that is also alert to generic conventions and their revision/subversion.

Indicative Module Content:

Developing a critical understanding of:

1. The continually shifting genre of crime fiction and its sub-genre (e.g., police procedurals, spy novels, the 'private' detective, historical fiction, queer fiction, Nordic noir).
2. Transcultural contexts: the national/historical/political/social forces that shape crime fiction.
3. The ideological implications of fictional representations of criminality, violence, detection, justice and social 'order', especially in relation to concepts of class, sexuality, gender, and race/ethnicity.
4. Critical reception: the critical debates generated by contemporary crime fiction.
5. The popularisation of contemporary crime ‘narratives’ through other media (e.g., television/film)

Content Note: A module on crime fiction necessarily negotiates graphic depiction and representation of violent crime (including sexual violence). The course scrutinises and interrogates such representation, especially the role of female victims within the genre. If students have any concerns or want to discuss module content during the module, they are invited to contact the module conevor.

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Competent

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Competent

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Competent

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Advanced Beginner

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Advanced Beginner

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Competent

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Competent

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Advanced Beginner

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Competent

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Competent

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Competent

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 2

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 2

Reduce inequality within and among countries 2

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 2
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

20
Specified Learning Activities

36
Autonomous Student Learning

44
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The course will begin with an Introduction to crime fiction, with exploration of key features in the development of the genre (e.g., the recurring role of the detective, the practice of detection/policing, representations of the victim, and shifting concepts of 'crime' and 'justice'). These key concepts will be carried through the weeks that follow, developed and complicated in our reading of each novel.

We will spend 2 weeks per novel/region, allowing us time and space to dig into the cultural/historical context for each novel and engage in close reading of each text.

In general (allowing for the preferences of individual lecturers), classes will be structured around a presentation by the lecturer, followed by class discussion and development of issues raised.

The teaching team will address the wider contexts of European crime fiction, including discussion of genre, historical period, social, cultural and political issues and the implications of geography/landscape in shaping the works of these European crime writers.

Close reading of assigned novels will help to situate these wider questions and particular attention will be paid to the relationship between content and form. We will consider how different forms of the crime novel take shape in different European contexts and what traits persist across all regions and subgenres.

AI Not Permitted: The use of AI tools is NOT permitted in this module. Students are expected to engage directly with module materials and activities WITHOUT the use of AI tools.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
ENG30920 - The Crime Novel, ENG32020 - Detecting Fictions

Additional Information:
​ENG 31780 Contemporary European Crime Fiction: ​​students registered to this course should not register to ENG 32020 Detecting Fictions: the Crime Novel in Britain, America and Ireland.


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Exam (In-person): The end-of-semester exam will take place in a designated exam centre.
The final class will offer exam guidance.
Past exam papers will be posted on Brightspace.		 End of trimester
Duration:
2 hr(s)
 Graded No
60
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Approx 1500-2000 word analysis of a core feature of crime fiction supported by a close reading of one novel on the module Week 7 Graded No
40
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback available following C/A assignment/s.

Contemporary European Crime Fiction: Reading List (Provisional)

CORE TEXTS:
Any editions (hard copy or ebook, if available) will be acceptable but students MUST have copies of all CORE texts. It is expected that students will have read core texts in advance of class.

Javier Cercas, Even the Darkest Night
Mick Herron, Slough House
Asa Larson, The Second Deadly Sin
Nicola White, The Burning Boy


Name Role
Professor Nicholas Daly Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Professor Fionnuala Dillane Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Maria Mulvany Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Maria Stuart Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Wed 10:00 - 11:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.