Combining ideas of critical discourse analysis, Judith Butler’s gender performativity and Foucauldian definitions of power and discipline, the project outlines the discursive construction of Sherlock Holmes as queer subject in contemporary Victorian adaptations Sherlock Holmes (2009), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) and Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (2016). This dissertation explores the concept of gender performativity and masculinity, focusing on queer texts, subtexts and paratexts and conceptualises the implications of queer representation in modern adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes detective stories. He is an idea, a concept, a symbol, which makes him seem so omnipresent. The main idea that came out of this reflection is that Sherlock Holmes is no longer, nowadays, only a character of fiction.

This research work was furthermore completed thanks to the reading of documents regarding Sherlock Holmes’ context of creation, the Victorian era, as this period had a very important role to play in the understanding of the character. In addition to these readings and viewings, this paper is complemented by previous reflections on the character and his author. This study relies on the reading of the original short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle, his autobiography, as well as the analysis of the various adaptations and pastiches that were made after the detective’s adventures generated such a huge enthusiasm.

This research paper considersthe reasons of such a universal success, for a character who is referenced just about everywhere, whatever the time and place, who takes multiple forms in both our daily lives and in the diverse shapes taken by culture (Literature, art, cinema, television…). This reflection is based on the observation of this character’s permanency and universality, whose identity transcended, throughout the years, the strict scope of its creation. This paper, written in the course of a Research Master specializing in English studies, questions a wide-ranging literary phenomenon: the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock the sign of four