| Abstract | My dissertation takes a selection of post-2010 Sherlock Holmes adaptations and appropriations and examines how they challenge, deconstruct, and transform gender and sexuality. I construct this investigation on the argument that, as works of popular culture, the Sherlock Holmes stories reflect and engage with popular understandings of gender and sexuality; the adaptations and appropriations, also works of popular culture, underscore recent, radical shifts and changes in twenty-first-century gender and sexuality. To explore these shifts, I employ a variety of methodologies. I begin with Annette Kolodny¿s ¿playful pluralism¿ to better contextualize gender in the Victorian Era and the characters and character dynamics of the Sherlock Holmes canon. I further emphasize the nuances in the canon and how its inclusion of ¿New Woman¿ characters reveal Conan Doyle¿s more progressive views of women¿s rights. After establishing these key contexts, I turn to my chosen adaptations and appropriations. I first focus on post-2010 secondary characters whose complex storylines emphasize negotiation rather than textual fidelity. I argue that these characters approach gender as a performed role defined through social norms; while a character¿s ability to denaturalize the gender apparatus varies, all characters embody challenges to the binary structures of ¿male¿ and ¿female.¿ Next, I scrutinize adaptations that maintain the male-male relationship between Holmes and Watson; in short, the Victorian homosocial bond shifts to more emotive, affective bromance-like relationships. My fourth concentrates on two female authors who transform Sherlock Holmes into Charlotte Holmes. Sherry Thomas and Brittany Cavallaro appropriate Sherlock Holmes for the purpose of promoting and exploring feminism and women-centered stories. To frame this chapter analysis, I utilize feminism, gender studies, and adaptation studies. My conclusion is an appropriation of my own. This story takes place as a parallel to ¿The Man with the Twisted Lip¿ (December 1891). Rather than follow Sherlock Holmes and John Watson on a case, ¿The Adventure of the Elephant Figurine¿ follows Mary Watson, psychic detective, on a case regarding the vindictive spirit of a dead husband. I wrote ¿Elephant Figurine¿ as a contribution to the feminist appropriations of the Sherlock Holmes canon. |
