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Sherlock's slums: the periodical as an environmental form

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 28; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0950236x.2013.848926

1470-1308

Jonathan Cranfield,

Narrative Theory and Analysis

This article uses recent developments in environmental criticism to analyse the role of the ‘The Strand Magazine’ and the late-Victorian periodical in general within late-century and early Edwardian London. It examines ‘The Strand’'s connection with the development of intra-city rail services, the simultaneous growth of the commuter belt and inner-city slums, and, finally, the ways in which the corporeal afterlife of periodical texts should alter traditional ways of interpreting them. It argues that, outside of periodical studies itself, the periodical has been neglected and not subjected to newer kinds of theoretical analysis. Contrary to popular prejudices against them, I argue that the periodical is a quintessentially environmental form in that it necessarily maintains a close, symbiotic relationship with the world around it.