Cover stories? Bibliographical itineraries into spy fiction studies (1969–2019)

This chapter reconstructs the historiographical and literary debate concerned with the genesis and development of the spy story in the European context between the late XIXth and the early XXth century. Reviewing works published in English, French, and Italian between 1969 and 2019, it offers an original understanding of the different interpretations of the spy story emerged in the last decades, allowing readers to better situate SECRET within its own historiographical context. Moving from the structuralist phase (roughly 1969-1987), the chapter follows the evolution of the debate across the 1990s, a decade strongly marked by the emergence of deconstructionist approaches, and beyond, arriving to the contributions elaborated in the context of contemporary cultural studies. In this panorama, the book by Michael Denning (Cover stories, 1987) and the article by Terry Eagleton (The Secret Agent, 1978) emerge as the true turning points in the readjustment of the contemporary debate. Structured as a review essay, this chapter highlights the deficiencies of the debate on the spy story, underlining the lack of interest shown for non-British literature as much as the absence of a solid post-colonial approach towards the genre. At the same time, emphasizing its undeniable richness and originality in terms of methodology, it also pinpoints to its importance for any research aiming at understanding the development of a culture of secrecy in XIXth and XXth century Europe.