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of the media and its role in society is an ongoing product of discovery, a product formed by the questions we ask and the methods we use, all of which contribute to the discovery of the truth. However, the success of the discovery rests on the methods used to guide the researcher: “The objectivist/relativist split is frequently equated with the distinction made between quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry” (Ruddock, 2000, p. 5). Methodological position: Positivism versus naturalism Hughes (as cited in Brewer, 2000) “outlined two models of social research which were premised on two different methodological positions, the natural science model based on positivism and [the] humanistic model based on naturalism” (Brewer, 2000, p. 29). Positivism “forms the theoretical basis for the hard sciences” (Ruddock, 2001, p. 5), a position motivated towards quantitative data and rigid qualitative methods. Quantitative methods, in relation to my area of study, would require statistical research primarily represented in audience ratings and box-office takings. Therefore, if I were to follow positivist theory I would be disregarding the emotional investment made by fans. However, I do wish to achieve, through a qualitative process, legitimate results that are applicable in practice. Brewer (2000) recommends naturalism. “It is signified by attention to what human beings feel, perceive, think and do in natural situations that are not experimentally contrived or controlled” (Brewer, 2000, p. 33). This statement, while referring to research conducted on everyday life, highlights the complexity of researching fandom. By all accounts, this study should be, and primarily is, a qualitative humanistic examination of fan cultivation. Defining the Audience Methodologically, studying the audience casts a very wide net. Ruddock (2001) believes “audiences are [already] hard to analyse because . . . they are difficult to define . . . it would be tempting to say that the audience is quite simply those people who attend to a particular text” (p. 8). But the difficulty with analysing attendance is that it is purely quantitative (positivist). For while the action equates to an audience member voting with their feet, it does not reflect or express how the decision to attend was made, or why. The audience of Sherlock Holmes (2009) is my focus, and while I can examine who the film was aimed at commercially, the film adds to a cumulative fan- base that inspires examination into the various technologies that were involved and evolved from Holmes‟ humble serialised beginnings to today‟s blockbuster version. 10
Jenkins (1992), however, would disagree with this approach, as he is prone to reject the “tradition that reads the audience from structures of the text or in terms of the forms of consumption generated by the institutions of production and marketing” (p. 285). Jenkins (1992) encourages researchers “to challenge [the] theoretical fiction that masks . . . the actual complexities of audience-text relations” (p. 285). While I similarly wish to examine the complexities of audience cultivation, I, unlike Jenkins (1992), cannot disregard the recurring images projected by institutions because fandom itself can be considered an institution. Defining the Audience: Ruddock’s three points of antagonism Ruddock (2001) believes that a “comprehensive discussion of audiences and how to research them must . . . be sensitive to three points of antagonism” (p. 6). Firstly, Ruddock (2001) wishes for the researcher to address their “motives for wanting to know about audiences” (p. 6). Simply, I find fandom is an acute example of modern media‟s influence on the viewer and the commercialisation of media products. “Secondly, these divergent motives lead to different methodologies” (Ruddock, 2001, p. 6). While the research‟s methodology is explored later in a chapter of its own, it is worth noting here that I am approaching the audience qualitatively, placing myself ethnographically in the position of an audience member and charting my personal development as a fan of Sherlock Holmes. “Finally, the motives and methods driving a researcher are likely to influence or even determine the results he or she . . . constructs” (Ruddock, 2001, p. 6). At an early stage of my research, I drafted a three-level model of fan progression, suggesting that a viewer‟s progress as a fan results in either an enamoured or educated position. Depending upon a fan‟s process of cultivation, driven by the products they encounter, it will result in an enamoured (biased) or educated (critical) position. While this conclusion was indeed a pre-constructed outcome, my results will in fact depend upon my findings that emerge from the research process. Defining fans Often the term fan, when explained by scholars, bears both an historical and academic context. Grossberg (as cited in Bailey, 2005), for example, states the word “„fan‟ is derived from „fanatic‟, a term with heavy connotations of extremism and irrationality” (pp. 48-49). Similarly, ten years later Hills (2002) describes fandom as an overbearing state. He describes a fan as being “somebody who is obsessed with a particular star, celebrity, film, TV programme, band; somebody who can produce reams of information 11
Page 1 and 2: The Case Study of Sherlock Holmes (
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Attestation of Au
Page 5 and 6: List of Figures Figure 1. Abercromb
Page 7 and 8: Attestation of Authorship I hereby
Page 9 and 10: Abstract This study investigates a
Page 11 and 12: Abercrombie and Longhurst‟s audie
Page 13 and 14: and Morgan‟s (1990) and Shanahan
Page 15: two and turn them into action” (G
Page 19 and 20: that to be a secondary phase, a res
Page 21 and 22: they designed their continuum, were
Page 23 and 24: economistic theory, alongside Aberc
Page 25 and 26: informs us that we take our communi
Page 27 and 28: Methodology This chapter explains t
Page 29 and 30: albeit in Sherlock Holmes for Dummi
Page 31 and 32: Figure 2. Original model from Maste
Page 33 and 34: and like many, have a stereotypical
Page 35 and 36: Drawing from Shanahan and Morgan (1
Page 37 and 38: Model My research advocates the the
Page 39 and 40: Creative component Critiques Regard
Page 41 and 42: ethnographic position is made on tw
Page 43 and 44: Table 2. Ethnographic order of prod
Page 45 and 46: Good Doctor to placate any qualms t
Page 47 and 48: preconception was derived from its
Page 49 and 50: and Watson in defeating Lord Blackw
Page 51 and 52: The common picture of Holmes is of
Page 53 and 54: “embrace of fiction” (p. 606) a
Page 55 and 56: was lost. Therefore, Doyle‟s orig
Page 57 and 58: this was the only Holmes novel the
Page 59 and 60: 9). While the tale and its quick pu
Page 61 and 62: his feet with a cry of pleasure.
Page 63 and 64: Cultivation analysis: Official seco
Page 65 and 66: their flaws and their frailties, in
Page 67 and 68:
may suggest, this film is not a dir
Page 69 and 70:
Holmes in the role of supporting ac
Page 71 and 72:
have endeavoured to intertwine and
Page 73 and 74:
Official secondary products: The Pr
Page 75 and 76:
245). Redmond‟s (2009) statement,
Page 77 and 78:
“shocking affair of the Dutch ste
Page 79 and 80:
cited in Jenkins, 1992, p. 32). In
Page 81 and 82:
The fan Sandvoss (2005) believes th
Page 83 and 84:
emotional, or cognitive); they tres
Page 85 and 86:
knowledgeable fans [who] may . . .
Page 87 and 88:
negative connotation, for it no lon
Page 89 and 90:
Figure 6, the consumer-to-fan culti
Page 91 and 92:
Creative Component Introduction Fan
Page 93 and 94:
esponsible, Lord Blackwood, played
Page 95 and 96:
short and are exposed as fraudulent
Page 97 and 98:
Conclusion We take our communicatio
Page 99 and 100:
References Abercrombie, N., & Longh
Page 101 and 102:
Davies, D. S. (2009). The further a
Page 103 and 104:
Doyle, A. C. (2005k). The case-book
Page 105 and 106:
Jenkins, H. (2007). Afterword: The
Page 107 and 108:
Signorielli, N., & Morgan, M. (1990
Page 109 and 110:
Bibliography Ackroyd, P. (2001). In
Page 111:
Miller, P. V. (1994). Made-to-order
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