Sherlock and Transmedia Fandom

The critically-acclaimed BBC television series Sherlock (2010– ) re-envisions Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective for the digital age, joining participants in the active traditions of Sherlockians/Holmesians and fans from other communities, including science fiction, media, and anime. This collection explores the cultural intersections and fan traditions that converge in Sherlock and its fandoms. Essays focus on the industrial and cultural contexts of Sherlock’s release, on the text of Sherlock as adaptation and transformative work, and on Sherlock’s critical and popular reception. The volume’s multiple perspectives examine Sherlock Holmes as an international transmedia figure with continued cultural impact, offering insight into not only the BBC series itself, but also into its literary source, and with it, the international resonance of the Victorian detective and his sidekick. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Louisa Ellen Stein is an assistant professor of film and media culture at Middlebury College in Vermont. She has written previously on contemporary media culture, including film, television, the Internet and videogames.

Kristina Busse teaches at the University of South Alabama and has published a variety of essays on fan fiction and fan culture. She is the founding coeditor of Transformative Works and Cultures.

Edited by Louisa Ellen Stein and Kristina Busse

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 251
Bibliographic Info: references, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6818-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-9068-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      ix
Abbreviations      x
Prologue: Why Sherlock? Narrator Investment in the BBC Series
LYNDSAY FAYE      1
Introduction: The Literary, Televisual and Digital Adventures of the Beloved Detective
LOUISA ELLEN STEIN and KRISTINA BUSSE      9

Part One: Transmedia and Collective Intelligence
Sherlock’s Epistemological Economy and the Value of “Fan” Knowledge: How Producer-Fans Play the (Great) Game of Fandom
MATT HILLS      27
Winning “The Grand Game”: Sherlock and the Fragmentation of Fan Discourse
ASHLEY D. POLASEK      41

Part Two: Sherlock Then and Now
“But It’s the Solar System!” Reconciling Science and Faith Through Astronomy
ARIANA SCOTT-ZECHLIN      56
Terror, Nostalgia, and the Pursuit of Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock
ELLEN BURTON HARRINGTON      70
Decoding the Industrial and Digital City: Visions of Security in Holmes’ and Sherlock’s London
ANNE KUSTRITZ and MELANIE E.S. KOHNEN      85

Part Three: Adaptations and Intertextuality
Shaping Sherlocks: Institutional Practice and the Adaptation of Character
ELIZABETH JANE EVANS      102
Sherlock’s Webs: What the Detective Remembered from the Doctor About Transmediality
CB HARVEY      118
Holmes in the Small Screen: The Television Contexts of Sherlock
TOM STEWARD      133

Part Four: Interpreting Sherlock
“Good Old Index”; or, The Mystery of the Infinite Archive
ROBERTA PEARSON      150
Sherlock: Critical Reception by the Media
PAUL RIXON      165
Holmes Abroad: Dutch Fans Interpret the Famous Detective
NICOLLE LAMERICHS      179

Part Five: Postmodern Sherlock
Sherlock and the (Re)Invention of Modernity
BALAKA BASU      196
Sherlock as Cyborg: Bridging Mind and Body
FRANCESCA COPPA      210

Conclusion: Transmedia Sherlock and Beyond
KRISTINA BUSSE and LOUISA ELLEN STEIN      224
About the Contributors      232
Index      235

“essays examines the cultural intersections and fan traditions that have developed around the immensely successful BBC series Sherlock”—Reference & Research Book News.