Content Category
Literary Criticism
Abstract/Description
Newspapers function as a Bakhtinian chronotope in George W.M. Reynolds’s The Mysteries of London. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adapted this usage of newspapers in his Sherlock Holms stories. The chronotope has several features and consequences. The features include an inherent emphasis on physicality, creating a concrete object to embody the ideas of information, communication, and technology; forging a link between newspapers and crime or criminality; and linking newspapers to low-brow and popular culture. These features originate in Reynolds’s work, but are carried over into Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories. They also bring with them consequences. The first is the legitimation of information, regardless of its veracity. The second is creating room for metatextual commentary on newspapers and the stories themselves. Asserting this connection not only allows us to gain insight into the Sherlock Holmes stories, but also challenges and revises the traditional narrative of British detective fiction.
Copyright and Licensing of My Content
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Origin of Submission
more than one of the above
Faculty Involvement
Jamie Horrocks, Dennis Cutchins
Location
3082 JFSB
Start Date
17-3-2016 8:30 AM
End Date
17-3-2016 9:30 AM
Included in
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!: NEWSPAPERS AS BAKHTINIAN CHRONOTOPE IN THE MYSTERIES OF LONDON AND SHERLOCK HOLMES
3082 JFSB
Newspapers function as a Bakhtinian chronotope in George W.M. Reynolds’s The Mysteries of London. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adapted this usage of newspapers in his Sherlock Holms stories. The chronotope has several features and consequences. The features include an inherent emphasis on physicality, creating a concrete object to embody the ideas of information, communication, and technology; forging a link between newspapers and crime or criminality; and linking newspapers to low-brow and popular culture. These features originate in Reynolds’s work, but are carried over into Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories. They also bring with them consequences. The first is the legitimation of information, regardless of its veracity. The second is creating room for metatextual commentary on newspapers and the stories themselves. Asserting this connection not only allows us to gain insight into the Sherlock Holmes stories, but also challenges and revises the traditional narrative of British detective fiction.