Moriarty's ghost:Or the queer disruption of the BBC's Sherlock

Fathallah, J. (2015) Moriarty's ghost:Or the queer disruption of the BBC's Sherlock. Television and New Media, 16 (5). pp. 490-500. ISSN 1527-4764

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Abstract

This article argues that the BBC’s Sherlock is outwardly a conservative text sedimenting the historical function of Sherlock Holmes as a model of hegemonic British masculinity. However, queer disruptions in the performance of masculinity may be read as, after Butler, destabilizing and revealing the groundlessness of gender constructions. For as Butler has argued, hetero-masculine performativity is “constantly haunted by that domain of sexual possibility that must be excluded for heterosexualized gender to produce itself.” Referencing Laclau’s perception of “hauntologies” to texts (adapted from Derrida), I posit that the presence/specter of the queer villain Moriarty can be read as a caesura challenging performed hegemonic masculinity. With the possible death and promise of Moriarty’s return at the close of the current season, the series now stands at a crossroads. It may either revert to the queerbaiting of previous seasons or foreshadow a more radical text.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Television and New Media
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1200/1213
Subjects:
?? CULT TVCULTURAL POLITICSCRITICAL MEDIA STUDIESGAYSEXUALITYGENDERQUEERTELEVISIONTHE UNITED KINGDOMMASCULINITYCULTURAL STUDIESVISUAL ARTS AND PERFORMING ARTS ??
ID Code:
152589
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
11 Mar 2021 11:10
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
17 Sep 2023 03:00