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Dogs, detectives and the famous Sherlock Holmes

University of Warwick, England, emma.mason{at}warwick.ac.uk

A B S T R A C T • The celebrity of Sherlock Holmes is almost universally signified through the iconic silhouetted image of a deerstalker hat and smoking pipe, one that secures his fame as a popular detective from the Victorian period to our own. Despite his aloof and sometimes prickly behaviour on the page, Holmes remains a favourite with a diverse group of audiences, instantly likeable to his contemporary readers. This article will connect the fond regard in which Holmes' character was held in the nineteenth century to the detective's relationship with dogs. Using Donna Haraway's recent theorization of dogs as 'companion species' in her manifesto on otherness, the article will suggest that the Victorians regarded Holmes' sleuthing fame as inseparable from his respect for animal otherness, one with which he is identified throughout Conan Doyle's stories. In this respect, I argue, Holmes is a hudographical detective, his crime-solving powers rooted in his relationship with and to dogs. •

Key Words: 'companion species' • detective fiction • dogs • Donna Haraway • Sherlock Holmes • hudographies • otherness

International Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 11, No. 3, 289-300 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1367877908092586


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