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- Title
Das große Genre-Mysterium: Das Mystery-Genre.
- Authors
Spiegel, Simon
- Abstract
The term 'mystery' has a long tradition as a genre name in the English-speaking world. Here, 'mystery' is normally used to designate crime stories. In German however, 'mystery' has acquired a new meaning and is used for fictions (especially tv series), which are characterized by a supernatural touch and a specific feeling of uncertainty of how the fictional universe is structured. This paper traces the history of the German mystery genre and argues that its origin is closely linked with the launch of the tv series THE X-FILES by private tv station ProSieben. Very early on ProSieben branded THE X-FILES as mystery and thus succeeded in associating its image as a tv station with Chris Carter's show and the new genre. The paper further analyzes the structure of THE X-FILES, LOST and TWIN PEAKS, three shows, which are considered prototypical examples for mystery in the German speaking world. Interestingly enough these three series are also often described as related in Anglophone research, but here the emphasis lies on their very hybridity. The paper further shows that because of its quasi-Todorovian uncertainty mystery is able to serve as neo-myths in the sense of theologian Linus Hauser.
- Subjects
GERMANY; MANNERS &; customs; MYSTERY; TELEVISION program genres; FICTION television programs
- Publication
Zeitschrift für Fantastikforschung, 2014, p2
- ISSN
2192-0885
- Publication type
Article