Introduction

Abstract

The subject of this book is James Bond. However, we are not simply concerned with the Bond novels and the Bond films, although we examine both in some detail. Rather, our interest lies in the figure of Bond, in the diverse and changing forms in which it has been produced and circulated, and in the varying cultural business that has been, conducted around, by means of and through this figure during the now considerable slice of post-war history in which it has been culturally active. Our analysis accordingly attempts to go beyond the Bond novels and films to take account of the broader range of texts and coded objects through which the figure of Bond has been put into circulation as a popular hero. In these respects, we shall argue, the figure of Bond constitutes a particular type of cultural phenomenon. Our purpose, in examining the organisation of this phenomenon and the means by which it has been produced, is to convey something of the scope and reach of Bond’s popularity as well as to specify and account for the peculiar nature of his appeal as a popular hero.