The IAFOR Journal of Cultural
Studies Volume 1 – Issue 2

The IAFOR Journal of Cultural
Studies Volume 1 – Issue 2

The IAFOR Journal of Cultural
Studies Volume 1 – Issue 2

Prominent cultural studies scholars, beginning as early as the Frankfurt School and continuing
through to today, have routinely identified the mystery novel as a worthy cultural product
because it serves to valorize scientism by illustrating the virtue of scientific methods of crime
solving. However, this research has neglected to fully consider how other, less empirical, forms
of inquiry have also been featured in the mystery genre, particularly in the work of the most
widely read mystery author of all time, Agatha Christie. My research highlights Christie’s
tendency to focus on the utility of qualitative methods that result in emancipatory action for
marginalized characters. For Miss Marple, Christie’s popular sleuth, this emancipation results
from her use of what scholars call a critical qualitative method that enjoins stakeholders in an
empowering process of collective inquiry. By establishing that Christie’s work evidences
progressive social scientific research methods, this article engages with the work of previous
scholars who have overlooked the legacy of her novels as purveyors of scientism to the public,
and as means of repudiating hegemonic discourses of institutional authority.

Keywords: cultural studies, action research, Agatha Christie, crime fiction, scientism, methods

Holger Briel