Holmes Rec: "Why the BSI is not a fandom"
Nov. 30th, 2012 07:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neadodsAt some point - probably the point where I catch up on everything from Holmesian_news for the last 8 or 9 days - I'm going to have a full fic/essay rec. But I'm not going to wait to pass on one of the best straight-faced sporkings I've ever read: Lyndsay Faye's scholarly essay Upon the Clear Distinction Between Fandom and the Baker Street Irregulars
Excerpts:
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Note: for the purposes of this intellectual exercise, the possibility that the BSI may potentially be a storied and erudite literary society and a happily thriving fandom simultaneously will be ignored. This decision was made in light of the fact that a noun cannot be two things concurrently, the way the Empire State Building is not both a functioning office tower and a tourist destination, and the way Bill Clinton is not both a former president and a saxophone player.
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Denizens of the fandom community fail to confine their “avid enthusiasm” to mere discussion of hobbits and tribbles; they also, as a group, have a marked tendency to collect memorabilia relevant to their favorite characters, spending precious funds in pursuit of items such as action figures and animation cells. ... Irregulars of my acquaintance have amassed collections of Sherlock Holmes art, Sherlock Holmes books, Sherlock Holmes knickknacks, Sherlock Holmes pins, Sherlock Holmes translations, Sherlock Holmes reference volumes, and Sherlock Holmes talismans such as magnifying glasses or pipes, but as these are clearly objets d’art, they find no equivalency within the realm of fandom.
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It just gets better; do read the whole thing. It's only a pity that Issac Asimov isn't around anymore to get a giggle out of his invocation therein.
Excerpts:
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Note: for the purposes of this intellectual exercise, the possibility that the BSI may potentially be a storied and erudite literary society and a happily thriving fandom simultaneously will be ignored. This decision was made in light of the fact that a noun cannot be two things concurrently, the way the Empire State Building is not both a functioning office tower and a tourist destination, and the way Bill Clinton is not both a former president and a saxophone player.
----
Denizens of the fandom community fail to confine their “avid enthusiasm” to mere discussion of hobbits and tribbles; they also, as a group, have a marked tendency to collect memorabilia relevant to their favorite characters, spending precious funds in pursuit of items such as action figures and animation cells. ... Irregulars of my acquaintance have amassed collections of Sherlock Holmes art, Sherlock Holmes books, Sherlock Holmes knickknacks, Sherlock Holmes pins, Sherlock Holmes translations, Sherlock Holmes reference volumes, and Sherlock Holmes talismans such as magnifying glasses or pipes, but as these are clearly objets d’art, they find no equivalency within the realm of fandom.
----
It just gets better; do read the whole thing. It's only a pity that Issac Asimov isn't around anymore to get a giggle out of his invocation therein.
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Date: 2012-12-01 03:19 am (UTC)Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes are not mere "fans" either. We're quite preoccupied enough with singing The Reindeer Song and not drinking anything we can't see through.
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Date: 2012-12-03 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-03 03:55 am (UTC)