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The angel of death: Targetting the hitman

Spicer, Andrew H.

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Authors

Andrew Spicer Andrew2.Spicer@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Cultural Production



Contributors

Bran Nicol
Editor

Patricia Pulman
Editor

Eugene McNulty
Editor

Abstract

Although there are hundreds of films that feature hitmen, this is the first critical account of the origins, development and possible cultural and historical significance of this figure and thus an original contribution to scholarship. It charts the emergence of the figure in the 1920s and 1930s and its relationship to sensationalised reporting of American urban crime. Through a series of four case studies from 1942 to the present day, the representation of the hitman is analysed in detail, exploring the tropes of masculinity encoded in this figure and its evolution as a transnational icon of violence and solipsism.

Publication Date Jan 20, 2011
Publicly Available Date Jun 8, 2019
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Pages 155-174
Series Title Continuum Literary Studies
Book Title Crime Cultures: Figuring Criminality in Fiction and Film
ISBN 9780826432353
Keywords crime, film, hitman
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/965910
Publisher URL http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=133074&SubjectId=952&Subject2Id=1397
Additional Information Additional Information : By kind permission of Continuum International Publishing Group.

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