A panel discussion held during the Toyota US Woordfees emphasised the importance of women-focused domestic noir as a subgenre of crime fiction. Women need to write about other women’s stories, panelists said during the discussion on 9 March.
Dr Margriet van der Waal, Mira Feticu, Deborah Steinmair and Christy Weyer-Loedolff, discussed the dominance of women in the new subgenre, domestic noir, during this year’s Toyota US Woordfees. PHOTO: Hloni Manare
“There is something cathartic in reading about a character losing control and seeing them confront the moral regression, especially in what makes people, especially women, tick,” said Deborah Steinmair, author of crime novel As jy van moord droom.
The discussion reflected on the new subgenre of crime fiction, domestic noir, which usually showcases female experiences.
“The idea of men telling the stories of issues experienced by women does not reflect an authentic voice,” said dr Margriet van der Waal, professor of South African literary studies at the University of Amsterdam.
“Female crime fiction writers have a personal connection with women who deserve much more credit than [they are] given,” said Van der Waal.
The domination of male authors in crime fiction ends up “exposing [their] own bias”, and fails to tell the stories of women in crime fiction writing, said Steinmair.
Afrikaans author, Deborah Steinmair, with her novel, As jy van moord droom. PHOTO: Hloni Manare
According to Van der Waal, that same domination of men in crime fiction sidelines stereotypes created of women and creates an “unreliable narrator” who is out of touch with reality.
Panelists included Van der Waal, Steinmar and Mira Feticu, Romanian-Dutch author and journalist.The discussion was facilitated by Christy Weyer-Loedolff, creator of the Ceres CrimeFest.
Deborah Steinmair’s and Mira Feticu’s respective novels. PHOTO: Hloni Manare.