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Abstract
This article examines the content and structural characteristics of detective discourse as manifested in Edgar Allan Poe’s foundational detective stories: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Mystery of Marie Roget” , and “The Purloined Letter”. Drawing on discourse analysis frameworks developed by van Dijk, Todorov’s typology of detective fiction, and contemporary genre theory, the study investigates the dual narrative architecture, the epistemological function of detective reasoning, and the rhetorical strategies employed in the construction of mystery and resolution. The analysis reveals that Poe’s detective discourse is characterized by a binary narrative structure comprising the crime story and the investigation story, a highly rationalistic mode of address, and a strategic deployment of concealment and revelation. These features, argued to be the foundational architecture of the genre, continue to inform modern detective fiction. The findings contribute to both literary discourse analysis and genre theory.
References
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