The Reorganization of Detective Fiction: On “High Class” Detective Fiction in the magazine Shin seinen before 1923

Abstract

In this paper, I analyze the discourse of detective fiction in the magazine Shin seinen (New Youth) before the famous mystery writer Edogawa Rampo made his debut in 1923. From the time of its founding in 1920, Shin seinen strongly advocated for what it called “High Class” detective fiction, which meant stories in which detectives solved their cases through logic. By 1922 “High Class” detective fiction had become the standard, yet this was also the year when stories that resisted this trend began to appear in magazines. One possible reason for this is the increase in avid fans of detective stories. Detective fiction, which was originally viewed as “low class,” began to be valued for its artistry, and the genre of “High Class” detective fiction was reorganized.