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Portraying Lesbians and Other Happy Single Women without Shocking Her Readers in Dorothy L. Sayers’s Detective Fiction
Bray, Suzanne (2024): Portraying Lesbians and Other Happy Single Women without Shocking Her Readers in Dorothy L. Sayers’s Detective Fiction, in: Kerstin-Anja Münderlein (Hrsg.), Crime Fiction, Femininities and Masculinities : Proceedings of the Eighth Captivating Criminality Conference, Bamberg: University of Bamberg Press, doi: 10.20378/irb-94612.
Author:
Title of the compilation:
Crime Fiction, Femininities and Masculinities : Proceedings of the Eighth Captivating Criminality Conference
Editors:
Conference:
Eighth Captivating Criminality Conference ; Bamberg
Publisher Information:
Year of publication:
2024
Pages:
ISBN:
978-3-86309-973-2
Language:
English
DOI:
Abstract:
In 1927, Dorothy L. Sayers published, without attracting any unfavourable attention, a novel entitled Unnatural Death, in which most of the main characters are single women and some are obviously lesbians. Later, in both Strong Poison and Five Red Herrings, she depicted independent, artistic women who live either completely or partially together. In these cases, the women’s sexuality is not even mentioned, and it is up to the reader to follow the clues and decide if they are lesbians or not. In the context of the suspenseful detective plot, the women’s private affairs, and in particular those of the happy couples who live uneventful lives, remain almost unnoticed. Fifty years later, the BBC adaptations of the novels chose different options: one mini-series preserving the ambiguity of the novel while the other depicts an obvious, stereotypical lesbian couple. This chapter examines the author Dorothy L. Sayers’s attitude to female homosexuality and how she managed to include clearly or potentially lesbian characters in her fiction without shocking her contemporaries.
GND Keywords: ; ;
Sayers, Dorothy L., 1893-1957
Roman
Frau, Motiv
Keywords: ; ; ; ;
Single women
lesbians
Dorothy L. Sayers
television adaptations
stereotypes
DDC Classification:
RVK Classification:
Type:
Conferenceobject
Activation date:
April 15, 2024
Permalink
https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/94612