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Fan Phenomena: Sherlock Holmes

Fan Phenomena: Sherlock Holmes

Tom Ue

(2014)

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Book Details

Abstract

Few could have predicted the enduring fascination with the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. From the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the recent BBC series that has made a heart-throb out of Benedict Cumberbatch, the sleuth has been much a part of the British and global cultural legacy from the moment of his first appearance in 1887. The contributors to this book discuss the ways in which various fan cultures have sprung up around the stories and how they have proved to be a strong cultural paradigm for the ways in which these phenomena function in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Essays explore the numerous adaptations, rewritings, rip-offs, role-playing, wiki and crowd sourced texts, virtual realities, and faux scholarship Sherlock Holmes has inspired. Though fervid fan behaviour is often mischaracterized as a modern phenomenon, the historical roots of fan manifestation that have been largely forgotten are revived in this thrilling book. Complete with interviews with writers who have famously brought the character of Holmes back to life, the collection benefits from the vast knowledge of its contributors, including academics who teach in the field, archivists, and a number of writers who have been involved in the enactment of Holmes stories on stage, screen, and radio. The release of Fan Phenomena: Sherlock Holmes coincides with Holmes’s 160th birthday, so it is no mystery that it will make a welcome addition to the burgeoning scholarship on this timeless detective.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
FrontCover FC
Title 1
Copyright 2
Contents 3
Acknowledgements 4
Introduction 5
Sherlock Holmes and Shakespeare 8
Holmes and the Snake Skin Suits: Fighting for Survival on '50s Television 28
Fan Appeciation no.1 44
Doyle or Death? An Investigation into the World of Pastiche 52
Fan Appeciation no.2 60
Sherlock Holmes, Fan Culture and Fan Letters 66
Fan Appeciation no.3 80
Sherlock Holmes in the Twenty-second Century: Rebranding Holmes for a Child Audience 90
Fan Appeciation no.4 100
On Writing New Adventures on Audio: Into the Interstices of Canon 110
The Creation of ‘The Boy Sherlock Holmes’ 118
Fan Appeciation no.5 124
Getting Level with the King-Devil: Moriarty, Modernity and Conspiracy 134
Contributor Biographies 148
Image Credits 152
BackCover BC