Episode 2: Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and Spiritualism

Sherlock Holmes is the most rational and scientific detective of them all. So why did his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, passionately believe in ghosts, fairies, and telepathy?

 

Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes Spiritualism (Words To That Effect Podcast Ep2)Arthur Conan Doyle is now best remembered as the creator of Sherlock Holmes. In fact, his creation has long taken on a life of his own and Sherlock Holmes is one of only a handful of truly globally renowned literary characters (he’s on an elite list along with characters such as Dracula, James Bond, or Tarzan, for example). But Arthur Conan Doyle was so much more than the creator of Sherlock Holmes. He was one of the greatest genre writers of his, or any, time. He wrote historical fiction, Gothic tales, horror, adventure stories, nautical tales, and much more besides (read more on Conan Doyle here and here).

What is far less well-known today, is that Arthur Conan Doyle was a spiritualist, a fervent supporter of a movement which claimed to be able to communicate with the dead.

 

Arthur Conan Doyle and Spiritualism

Arthur Conan Doyle SpiritualismConan Doyle spent the latter decades of his life engaged in various aspects of Spiritualism: attending seances, talking with mediums, taking spirit photographs, passionately defending the movement from skeptics and detractors. He even set up The Psychic Bookshop, on Victoria Street in central London. He wrote a history of Spiritualism and relentlessly advocated for, and funded, the movement. This has often been overlooked or ignored by fans of his writing, particularly given that it is so at odds with the beliefs of the rationalist Sherlock Holmes.

So, what exactly was Spiritualism and why was it such a major part of Victorian and early-twentieth-century thinking? Why did Conan Doyle convert so publicly to the movement? How different is reading Sherlock Holmes when you are aware of this?

Listen to Words To That Effect Episode 2 and find out. My guest this week is Professor Darryl Jones, of Trinity College Dublin.

 

Guest Profile

Darryl Jones Gothic Tales (Arthur Conan Doyle Words To That Effect)Darryl Jones is Professor of English and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Trinity College Dublin

Prof Jones’ profile can be found here

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Gothic Tales, ed. Darryl Jones, is published by Oxford University Press and can be found here

 

 

 

Music

Come on Live Long Everything Fall (Arthur Conan Doyle Words To That Effect)Come On Live Long (Listen Here)

Wasteland (Everything Fall)

Berth (Everything Fall)

Tide (Everything Fall)

Billions (Everything Fall)

 

Works Mentioned

Arthur Conan Doyle:  The Lost World

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Complete Sherlock Holmes

 

If you enjoy the episode and want to find out how to support the show then click here for more information.

(Arthur Conan Doyle Episode) Support the show on Patreon

Any thoughts of comments on the episode? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment below or check out the Words To That Effect Facebook Page

 

6 thoughts on “Episode 2: Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and Spiritualism

  1. He was also a doctor who tried to get the British to promote policy to inoculate soldiers during the Anglo-Boer War and the beginning of WWI.
    Reference
    Cirillo, V. J. (2014). Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930): Physician During the Typhoid Epidemic in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). Journal of Medical Biography. 22(1). (pp. 2-8). doi:10.1177/0967772013493239

    1. What didn’t he do! Thanks for the link, I hadn’t come across that article before. Just had a look at the abstract there, I’ll definitely have to have a read.

      Conor

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.