TY - JOUR

T1 - Moriarty’s Ghost Or the Queer Disruption of the BBC’s Sherlock

AU - Fathallah, Judith

PY - 2016/7

Y1 - 2016/7

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - cult TV

KW - Cultural Politics

KW - Critical Media Studies

KW - Pay

KW - Sexuality

KW - Gender

KW - Queer

KW - Television

KW - Masculinity

KW - UK

U2 - 10.1177/1527476414543528

DO - 10.1177/1527476414543528

M3 - Article

VL - 16

SP - 490

EP - 500

JO - Television & New Media

JF - Television & New Media

SN - 1527-4764

IS - 5

ER -