The Case Study of Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Scholarly Commons ...
The Case Study of Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Scholarly Commons ...
The Case Study of Sherlock Holmes (2009) - Scholarly Commons ...
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and Morgan‟s (1990) and Shanahan and Morgan‟s (1999) focus on a fan‟s cultivation<br />
through “patterns <strong>of</strong> images and ideologies” (Shanahan & Morgan, 1999, p. 5).<br />
Following the cultivation analysis <strong>of</strong> my ethnographic field notes, I establish my<br />
findings and recommend areas within the subject <strong>of</strong> fan cultivation that require further<br />
academic attention. Combining a reflexive approach and the cultivation analysis <strong>of</strong> my<br />
field notes, I expand upon my main series <strong>of</strong> cultivated positions – general audience,<br />
fan, enamoured fan and educated fan – and establish the varying degrees <strong>of</strong> separation<br />
between each stage. From my findings, I reflect upon possible areas in fan studies and<br />
ethnographic practice that require further examination. I recommend changes to the<br />
academic use <strong>of</strong> the term “fan” and changes to the rhetoric surrounding the word. I<br />
propose that scholars examining fandom, which is more <strong>of</strong>ten then not focused on<br />
community, disregarding the pre-community cultivation <strong>of</strong> a viewer‟s relationship with<br />
a product, should concentrate their efforts on the individual viewer and their personal<br />
interaction. In addition, from my own experience, I recommend that we consider a<br />
hybridisation <strong>of</strong> the academic and the fan, with the purpose <strong>of</strong> establishing a new<br />
ethnographic role for the researcher.<br />
From my findings, I design a consumer-to-fan cultivation model. <strong>The</strong> model builds<br />
from Abercrombie and Longhurst‟s audience continuum (1998) and Moorhouse‟s<br />
circular model <strong>of</strong> American hot-rod enthusiasm (as cited in Abercrombie & Longhurst,<br />
1998). As a result, I create a continuum similar to Abercrombie and Longhurst‟s (1998),<br />
and a large circular model referencing the various theories contributed by academic<br />
theorists. My findings and the model are then practically applied in the writing <strong>of</strong> a<br />
critique, acting as an exemplary creative component, capturing the extent <strong>of</strong> my<br />
cultivation as a fan. Jenkins (1992) believes “fandom‟s very existence represents a<br />
critique <strong>of</strong> conventional forms <strong>of</strong> consumer culture” (p. 283). I therefore critique<br />
<strong>Sherlock</strong> <strong>Holmes</strong> (<strong>2009</strong>) from the position <strong>of</strong> an educated academic-fan, and examine<br />
how <strong>Holmes</strong>‟s magical effect depends upon the juxtaposition <strong>of</strong> scientific and magical<br />
imagery and the contradictory ideologies <strong>of</strong> enchantment and reality.<br />
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