Between fact and fiction: a detailed study of the ‘literary’ in investigative journalism with reference to Dan Morse’s “The Yoga Store Murder”

Abstract

Literature and journalism are two field of study that has been a never-ending discussion throughout the history. The two fields, regardless of being considered as separate entity, has its association in the course. This paper dwells into the two fields together, that is, on literary journalism and how literary journalism examines the blurring of boundaries between narrative writing and factual reporting through comparison of select works of narrative nonfiction. The text analysed is a novelistic piece, “The Yoga Store Murder” (2013) by Dan Morse. The study confronts the reluctance to acknowledge this form of reportage as authentic and reliable because its literariness is misconstrued as compromising the objectivity of the piece. The authors also examine how literary journalism fits within the rubric of both literature and journalism. The study addresses the following research questions: where do fact and fiction meet in literary journalistic narratives? how do we navigate questions of authenticity, reliability and journalistic integrity in narrative journalism? The questions will be attempted to be answered with a detailed analysis of a text of investigative journalism that is also nonfiction writing, though literary in nature.

Keywords

• journalism
• fiction
• nonfiction
• investigation
• reporters