Gender and the Modern Sherlock Holmes ─ Essays on Film and Television Adaptations Since 2009

This volume compiles 14 essays on gender in film and television adaptations of Sherlock Holmes since 2009, focusing on BBC's Sherlock, CBS's Elementary, and Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. English and other scholars from the US and Europe examine the changes in Sherlock and Watson in contemporary portrayals; the characters Jim Moriarty and Irene Adler; the importance of Adler and Mary Morstan in the original stories and adaptations; the concept of disguise for Adler's character; Adler's sexuality and gender performance in Arthur Conan Doyle's “A Scandal in Bohemia” and the BBC's Sherlock; the merging of Adler and Moriarty into one character in Elementary; changing the gender of Watson to female in Elementary, her characterization, and her homosocial relationship with the female Moriarty; the gender politics of BBC's Sherlock and the Sherlock Holmes films and differing definitions of queerness; queer subtext in the films and the influence of fans; the relationship between Watson and Sherlock in the BBC show, the interpersonal and power dynamics between them, and their homosociality; and how the male characters in the series have interacted with women. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Nadine Farghaly received her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Salzburg. She lives in Siegsdorf, Germany.