Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/SIC/2.6.LC.2
The Balkan Theme in The Secret of Chimneys
Graham St. John Stott
; Arab American University
Aysar Yaseen
; Arab American University
Abstract
In The Secret of Chimneys (1925) Agatha Christie uses the all too familiar Balkan stereotypes of backwardness and brigandage, but not – as was usually the case at the time – as an Other to illustrate British virtue, but as a mirror to British vice. It is Britain, not the fictional Herzoslovakia, that is a nation of brigands. Herzoslovakia remains relatively unknown, as none of the novel’s scenes take place there, but it is described by disinterested observers as democratic and prosperous. In London, however, the Foreign Office plans to overthrow its government to secure oil rights promised by a royal heir-in-exile to a London-based financial consortium.
Keywords
Christie; Balkans; Romania; oil; brigands
Hrčak ID:
171962
URI
Publication date:
6.6.2016.
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