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pre-existing fandom of his own, found this provided “a degree of native expertise” (p. 13). Jenkins (1992) similarly finds a personal understanding of the fandom in question allows one to offer up a deeper analysis on the subject: When I write about fan culture, then, I write both as an academic (who has access to certain theories of popular culture, certain bodies of critical and ethnographic literature) and as a fan (who has access to the particular knowledge and traditions of that community). My account exists in a constant movement between these two levels of understanding which are not necessarily in conflict but are also not necessarily in perfect alignment. (p. 5) By dividing my ethnographic field notes into distinct perspectives, I should be able to evenly represent both my participant and observer positions. The native expertise that Brewer (2000) and Bailey (2005) mentioned, in which the researcher possesses personal insight, can contribute to the research so long as it does not interfere with academic findings. This will be difficult, as an educated fan becomes a scholar in their own right and the line between Holmes products and academic sources blur. My reflexive analysis on this aspect of my research will be expanded upon later. Therefore, the ethnographic journey I have undertaken examines just that, the journey and the cultivation of a fan. Cultivation analysis Cultivation theorists Shanahan and Morgan (1999) stress that “cultivation is not about whether a new commercial can make people buy a new toothpaste” (p. 5). In other words, cultivation is not necessarily measured by action or outcome, rather “cultivation is about the implications of stable, repetitive, pervasive and virtually inescapable patterns of images and ideologies that television (especially dramatic, fictional entertainment) provides (Shanahan & Morgan, 1999, p. 5)”. Cultivation analysis is often applied towards television, due to “the medium‟s uniquely repetitive and pervasive message characteristics” (Signorielli & Morgan, 1990, p. 16). Signorielli and Morgan (1990), coinciding with Shanahan and Morgan‟s (1999) description, suggests “cultivation analysis . . . begins with identifying and assessing the most recurrent and stable patterns in television content, emphasizing the consistent images, portrayals, and values that cut across most program genres” (p. 16). Sherlock Holmes (2009) is a prime example of how cultivation analysis can be academically applied across mediums, as the original stories established the serialised format and embody various genres. 28
Drawing from Shanahan and Morgan (1999) and Signorielli and Morgan (1990), I apply cultivation analysis to the varying Holmes products according to their designated groups (primary, original, official secondary and unofficial secondary products) and collect my findings in a table of images and ideologies, by which the stable, repetitive and pervasive patterns encountered in my ethnographic journey are listed, ending with an analysis of my fan responses to these patterns. By conducting the analysis of the products separately and according to their designated groups, the images and ideological patterns are comparable and perhaps even similar. I will begin by examining the primary product, Sherlock Holmes (2009), with a cultivation and textual analysis on the film‟s recurring elements, specifically the stereotype of Holmes‟s character and the commercial messages embedded. Textual analysis is employed here because it is “particularly critical in providing a strong sense of the semiotic contours of the fan‟s symbolic world. Recognising that texts are the site of contestation and also of the imposition of socially determined and . . . individuated interpretive structures” (Bailey, 2005, pp. 51-52). After the primary, I will conduct an analysis on the remaining Holmes products, divided into original, official secondary and unofficial secondary products. By examining all the products that I encountered on my ethnographic fan journey, I should be able to fulfil Signorielli and Morgan‟s (1990) requirements for cultivation analysis and unearth relevant information. The analysis of unofficial Secondary products may prove to be the most important, as they are in many ways the fan‟s response. Bailey (2005) states the “examination of the secondary discourses produced within the respective fan cultures – fanzines, websites, works of fiction and visual art, critical discussions and other objects . . . offer particular access to the interpretive work central to the fan experience” (p. 50). Therefore I follow the cultivation analysis of these products with an examination into the images and ideologies I responded to and the patterns throughout the Holmes fandom which had cultivated viewers. Sandvoss (2005) believes “the clearest indicator of a particular emotional investment in a given popular text lies in its regular, repeated consumption . . . Many of those who label themselves as fans, when asked what defines their fandom, point to their patterns of consumption” (p. 7). This particular aspect of cultivation analysis will draw on my thick description field notes, revealing any instances whereby I responded to a product‟s instigation, resulting in a pattern of consumption. 29
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 and 16: two and turn them into action” (G
Page 17 and 18: Jenkins (1992), however, would disa
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 like many, have a stereotypical
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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