Scientific Collection «InterConf», (39): with the Proceedings of the 8th International Scientific and Practical Conference «Science and Practice: Implementation to Modern Society» (December 26-28, 2020) at Manchester, Great Britain

Karina Kamidenova 
Graduate student of the specialty of "Foreign language: two foreign languages" 
Zhetysu University named after I.Zhansugurov, Republic of Kazakhstan 
 
Aizhan Aidynova 
Graduate student of the specialty of "Foreign language: two foreign languages" 
Zhetysu University named after I.Zhansugurov, Republic of Kazakhstan 
 
Nurbekova Gulzhaina 
Graduate student of the specialty of "Foreign language: two foreign languages" 
Zhetysu University named after I.Zhansugurov, Republic of Kazakhstan 
 
AGATHA CHRISTIE’S RELATIONSHIPS IN LIGHT OF DETECTIVE 
GENRE AND GENRE OF LYRIC-PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVEL 
 
Abstract. The article makes an attempt to consider the work of Agatha Christie in the 
light of the relationship between the genre of detective story and the genre of a lyric-
psychological novel. Singling out two genre areas in the work of A. Christie - detective 
and lyric-psychological, it should be borne in mind that they do not oppose each other, 
but constitute a certain complex in which a detective is exposed to psychologism and 
lyricism, and a lyric-psychological novel contains a tragic, detective element. 
Keywords: personal model, lyric and psychological novel, detective, Victorian, 
Englishness, genre. 
Agatha Christie (Agatha Christie, 1891-1976) during her lifetime was recognized 
as the queen of the detective. A. Christie's detective work in terms of the number of 
circulations and the number of publications ranks third in the English-language book 
world, after the Bible and W. Shakespeare: a total of 137 volumes of the complete 
collection of her works for 54 years of literary activity. It would not be an exaggeration 
to say that she is still one of the most read English writers of the twentieth century, 
both in Britain and abroad, and the most famous author of detective stories, in contrast 

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to the huge number of popular at the beginning of the twentieth century, but almost 
forgotten afterwards names. It was the works of A. Christie, along with the novels of 
A. K. Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, J. Simenon, D. L. Sayers, that gave classic examples of 
the detective genre and later became models for a huge number of detectives who 
flooded the shelves of bookstores. 
Quite deservedly, the American Association of Detective Authors has awarded A. 
Christie the title of Grand Master, who are awarded for significant contributions to 
literature. Later A. Christie became a member of the Royal Society of Literature, and 
the University of Exeter awarded her an honorary doctorate in literature. But the main 
award went to A. Christie from the hands of the Queen in 1956, when the writer was 
awarded the Order of the British Empire, and 15 years later A. Christie was elevated 
to the rank of Lady Commander of the same order - an analogue of the knighthood for 
the fair sex. 
owever, such a highly respected detective queen always strove to search for new 
forms and sometimes could not limit herself to the rigid framework of detective 
science. 
A. Christie's desire to go beyond the rigid boundaries of the genre was already 
evident in her first novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), in which the narrator 
himself was the killer, which was strictly prohibited by the strict rules of detective 
science. Both critics and colleagues of A. Christie, and just lovers of the detective story, 
all together rebelled against the violation of the established canons. G. Anjaparidze 
wrote: “Of course, to break the rules when everyone carefully observes them meant 
incurring reproaches. But, on the other hand, literary rules do allow (and sometimes 
even require) that they be broken from time to time, especially in a detective story, 
which is always in danger of being too formalized." Emma Ercoli says about Christie: 
“She went beyond all the stereotypical schemes of the police genre. Her novels are 
imbued with a special range of feelings that are characteristic of her world and which 
we can call "real England". Restraint, a sense of balance, the ability to keep a distance, 
the subtlest humor - all this can be seen in every line, in every word. Many famous 

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Western writers believe that a sense of primordial integrity emanates from her novels, 
that her writing is a fusion of amazing morality, combined with devilish naivety and a 
delightful sense of humor that helps people live." 
Extraordinary observation allows the writer to compare and contrast various 
manifestations of human characters and, on this basis, come to generalized conclusions, 
to reveal such convincing psychological motivations of human actions, which would 
never occur to the most sophisticated lawyer. B.A. Gilenson, characterizing her work, 
noted: “Christie's books belong to the genre variety of the“ intuitive ”detective story, 
when a crime is solved not by researching facts, specific evidence and evidence, but 
exclusively with the help of the special psychic insight possessed by her characters ". 
It is noteworthy that A. Christie examines in his works the psychology of an 
ordinary person, discovering in him the inexhaustible wealth of mental life. She 
gravitates not towards exceptional, but towards more characteristic states of the soul, 
characteristic of many people, and therefore captures a much larger range of universal 
human feelings into the orbit of her observation. Her psychologism is thus more open, 
more directly addressed to the feelings and thoughts of readers. The writer conveys the 
truth of thoughts and sensations, the process of a person's self-immersion into his 
spiritual life. The soulful manner of storytelling and the confessional element allows 
A. Christie to preserve such a characteristic tonality of personal attitude to everything 
that happens, to create an impression of increased reliability, and also makes it possible 
to closely study the most hidden manifestations of the soul. A. Christie herself has 
repeatedly said in her interviews that she specializes in family murders. Quiet, domestic 
and even a kind of cozy murder is one of the favorite tricks of readers, because, despite 
the sinister element, such detectives are still far from cruelty and violence, and, often, 
are even full of gentle humor. And A. Christie's humor is also soulful, homely and 
almost cozy. 
In all detective stories by Agatha Christie, in accordance with the laws of the 
genre, good wins, while evil is exposed, which undoubtedly corresponds to a person's 
desire to believe in the ultimate triumph of good and justice. 

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A. Christie was good at understanding and expressing contemporary phenomena 
occurring in society and to give a vivid and accurate picture of the life of English 
society. For example, in the writer's works, various details of the situation and life of 
the prosperous middle class of England are widely presented, even the manner of table 
setting, fashions, culinary recipes, etc. The only grandson of A. Christie, Matthew 
Pritchard, noted in his interview: “Grandmother tried to make her novels similar to 
what surrounds us in everyday life: a writer should not break away from life. Agatha 
Christie drew many plots for her novels from her daily observations, communication 
with people and conclusions on this topic. 
A. Christie, by her own admission, has always had a sense of belonging to two 
eras - the Victorian and modern eras that are receding into the past. 
A. Christie's childhood fell on the beginning of the century, a century after 
Victoria, and passed in the atmosphere of the comfort of the parental home in the 
Ashfield estate, where life flowed measuredly and calmly in accordance with the 
established ritual, where she was surrounded by an atmosphere sustained in the late 
Victorian style. In addition, the family in which the future writer was brought up lived 
in an atmosphere of broad cultural contacts. Many interesting people visited their 
house, among whom were G. James and R. Kipling. They largely determined the 
special interest in the artistic word that reigned in the Miller house. Throughout her 
life, A. Christie worked within the framework of "Englishness" - a distinctive feature 
of the British, made them especially proud of their country with a well-oiled life and 
old democratic structure. The ideals of Victorianism, on which A. Christie grew up, 
have not lost their value for her throughout her life. 
The influence of the Victorian worldview with its optimism and belief in man was 
fully manifested in the detective works of A. Christie. Although everywhere the 
reader's detective stories are trapped by an ominous reality with obligatory murder, and 
A. Christie warns that we live in a dangerous world of “wild instincts” that modern 
man cannot overcome, her world is not completely hopeless. 

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In the artistic world of A. Christie's works, the author's own aesthetic position was 
manifested, which consists in the optimistic organization of the artistic space of most of 
her novels, which is realized in the finals of the novels with hope for a better future. 
Noticing the shortcomings of people, the vices of society, A. Christie reveals a tendency 
to idealize the "English tradition". Knowing perfectly well the way of life and customs of 
people, whom he portrays, without closing his eyes to the shadow sides of life, A. Christie 
does not call for the restructuring of society, but on the contrary demonstrates the belief in 
the possibility of making changes without breaking the foundations of the social system. 
A very special page in the work of the English writer is represented by six lyric 
and psychological novels written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott: "Giant's 
Bread" 1930; Unfinished Portrait 1934, Absent in the Spring 1944), The Rose and the 
Yew Tree 1947; "A Daughter's a Daughter" 1952. In these works A. Christie appears 
in an unusual role for readers - as a master of lyric and psychological prose, 
demonstrating a completely different facet of his creative nature. 
It is interesting that in each of the six lyric and psychological novels there is a 
tragic motive, expressed in a car accident, an attempted suicide, the tragic death of the 
heroine. Her novels demonstrate that the accident can destabilize a well-ordered life, 
violating the notion that it is organized by a certain and in an unchanging manner that 
is fundamental to Victorian aesthetics. Such a turn in the work of A. Christie towards 
the deepening of psychologism, expressed in the desire to show the mysterious path 
leading into the depths of the human soul and convey the state of suffering, was due to 
the general feeling of despair and hopelessness caused by the change in socio-political 
conditions at the beginning of the 20th century. 
The artistic world of A. Christie's novels has a common inner unity - the presence 
of the autobiographical image of the writer herself. On the one hand, the lyric and 
psychological novels of A. Christie are a commentary on her life, her fate, a kind of 
diary recording the experiences, impressions, feelings of the writer herself, in which 
she appears in the fullness of her mental, moral and everyday experience, on the other 
hand, it is “The universal of being”, the “philosophy of life” she professes. 

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The autobiographical beginning, projected onto the entire lyric and psychological 
work of A. Christie, continues the English tradition of reflectivity, self-knowledge and 
self-depth, expressed in an interest in lyric prose of an autobiographical nature. In it, 
lyricism acts as a special way of artistic thinking, in which intimate, personal 
experience prevails, as a way of expressing interest in the very origins of human 
experiences. 
A special place in a number of lyric and psychological novels by A. Christie is 
occupied by the novel "The Rose and the Yew Tree", containing philosophical 
reflections on time and choice, on the and the bizarre diversity of life and the difficult 
path of repentance and spiritual rebirth, which a person follows in search of a moral 
ideal. For A. Christie herself, this ideal consists in the harmonious existence of man in 
unity with nature and the surrounding world. 
Thus, the personal model of A. Christie is not limited to the framework of the 
detective genre, but contains another facet of creativity - a lyric-psychological novel. 
Both facets are not opposed to each other, but constitute a certain complex in which 
the detective story is exposed to psychologism and lyricism, and the lyric-
psychological novel contains a tragic, detective element, which makes it possible to 
expand the understanding of the writer's artistic world in the context of English female 
prose of the twentieth century.