Morphet, JR; (2013) Intertextuality in Deighton and Le Carré: using London to resite the other. Presented at: MANCEPT Conference in Political Theory, Aesthetics and Politics Worksho, Mannchester, UK.

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Abstract

The British spy novel took a realist turn in the 1960s epitomising the new wave. The first five novels each written Le Carré and Deighton were published in the period 1960-1970. Although both authors and these specific works have remained popular in genre spy fiction, there has been little consideration of the works in relation to each other and in their role together in situating the potential threats of the post-war period in a UK domestic setting rather than on mainland Europe. The transition of Fleming’s novels into film starting with ‘Dr No’ in 1962 suggested that UK spies engaging in espionage undertook this in exotic locations which were far removed from everyday life. An examination of the fiction of Deighton and Le Carré suggests a different world where the locus of external danger was in the suburban midst of Surrey or Wood Green. Whilst the war was over, the British state was still actively defending itself from internal threats and external dangers. The use of specific London locations in these first ten novels – particularly in ‘Call for the Dead’, and ‘The Spy who came in from the Cold’ by Le Carré and ‘The Ipcress File’ and ‘Berlin Game’ by Deighton create a language of location and fear. The roles played by the leading characters in these novels are complementary - Le Carré’s desk based controllers and Deighton’s operational spies – and appeal to different audiences many of whom had experience of war or conscription. This paper will explore the role of these novels in creating a new climate of public awareness in the post-war state through their locational specificity in London.

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