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Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1841) is often called the first modern detective story. Its hero, C. Auguste Dupin, solves a baffling Paris crime by pure reasoning, decades before Sherlock Holmes.

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The story behind the card

Poe (1809–1849), an American poet and critic, called his Dupin stories 'tales of ratiocination', an old word for methodical reasoning. When he wrote the first one, the word 'detective' was not yet in use. In three stories, 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'The Mystery of Marie Rogêt' (1842) and 'The Purloined Letter' (1844), he set out much of the pattern later writers followed: an eccentric genius, a friend who narrates, baffled police, a crime in a room locked from the inside, and an explanation that comes only at the end. Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes in 1887, openly credited Poe as the father of the detective story. The Mystery Writers of America still call their annual prizes the Edgar Awards.

Türkçe oku
Edgar Allan Poe'nun 1841'de yayımlanan “Morg Sokağı Cinayetleri” öyküsü, çoğu zaman ilk modern polisiye sayılır. Kahramanı C. Auguste Dupin, Paris'te herkesi şaşkına çeviren bir cinayeti yalnızca akıl yürüterek çözer. Sherlock Holmes ise sahneye ancak onlarca yıl sonra çıkacaktı.

Amerikalı şair ve eleştirmen Poe (1809–1849), Dupin öykülerine “akıl yürütme öyküleri” diyordu. İlkini yazdığında İngilizcede “dedektif” sözcüğü henüz kullanılmıyordu. “Morg Sokağı Cinayetleri”, “Marie Rogêt'nin Esrarı” (1842) ve “Çalınan Mektup” (1844) adlı üç öyküde, sonraki yazarların izleyeceği kalıbın büyük bölümünü kurdu: tuhaf bir dâhi, olayları anlatan bir arkadaş, çaresiz kalan polis, içeriden kilitli bir odada işlenen bir cinayet ve ancak sonda gelen açıklama. Sherlock Holmes'u 1887'de yaratan Arthur Conan Doyle, Poe'yu açıkça polisiye öykünün babası sayıyordu. Amerikalı polisiye yazarlarının derneği Mystery Writers of America, her yıl verdiği ödüllere bugün de Edgar adını veriyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Edgar Allan Poe
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