“The Field Bazaar” and “How Watson Learned the Trick” by A. Conan Doyle: non-canonical works, self-parody or pastiche?

Abstract

The article concentrates on the question of including Conan Doyle’s sketches “The Field Bazaar” and “How Watson Learned the Trick” to Sherlock Holmes 60-stories Canon. In order to confirm or disprove the hypothesis, these works are considered in terms of a few spacious criteria: features that discern them from the whole 60-stories Canon, features that are similar to pastiche, features that are similar to self-parody. A range of literary factors, stylish and semantic characteristics that exclude the sketches from the Canon was determined (viz. peculiarities that are most important, fundamental traits of Sherlock Holmes’ Canonical works). Based on the prevailing of the features of pastiche and self-parody in the sketches there was concluded that “The Field Bazaar” and “How Watson Learned the Trick” cannot be recognized as canonical.