Reimagining Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Gender Performativity

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2018-01-31
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en
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Sir Arthur Conan’s works featuring Sherlock Holmes have been reimagined and retold countless times. There has not yet been a study comparing and contrasting the gender performance in Doyle’s works and subsequent fanfiction written about the character of Sherlock Holmes, however. This research examines gender performativity in selected short stories from Doyle’s works as well as the gender performance of characters in fanfictions titles wherein gender is performed in notable ways. This research delineates the narratological possibilities of fanfiction and the way it reconstructs and reinterprets established narrative frameworks. Additionally, Judith Butler’s gender performativity theory is applied to Doyle’s canonical works in a close textual analysis of “A Scandal in Bohemia”, exploring the conventional versus unconventional gender performances of the characters in the short story. Introductory’s fanfiction “Equivalence” and Ishmael’s Body of Evidence series are also examined through the lens of Butler’s gender performativity theory, which is also applied to reinterpreted transgender narratives. Subsequently, this research also explores fanfiction conventions such as genderswapping and the Omega!verse, which showcase innovative ways of presenting gender identity and gendered power issues. By applying Judith Butler’s gender performativity theory on Doyle’s canon and the selected fanfiction titles, it becomes evident that while Doyle’s canon does contain unconventional gender performances, the narratological possibilities of fanfiction allow characters to better challenge and criticise established gender norms in the traditional narrative and perform gender in innovative ways. Keywords: Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, fanfiction, Judith Butler, gender performativity, gender performance, gender identity, gender, narratology
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