E.M. Hull and the Valentino cult: gender reversal after The sheik
(2011) In Journal of Gender Studies 20(2). p.171-182- Abstract
- In 1919 the now largely forgotten popular novelist E.M. Hull sparked a decade of infatuation with the ‘desert romance’ on the publication of her first book, The sheik. The obsession with the genre, fuelled by the release of Melford's 1921 film adaptation of the book, saw women swooning in the aisles at ‘screen god’ Rudolph Valentino's starring role. My aim here is to broaden the focus on Hull away from the much maligned novel, The sheik, by suggesting that Hull's subsequent novels, though never straying very far from the lucrative formula she cultivated with her first novel, were, in part at least, written in reaction to the uproar caused by this novel. I argue that Hull's representation of androgynous and cross-dressing women allows for... (More)
- In 1919 the now largely forgotten popular novelist E.M. Hull sparked a decade of infatuation with the ‘desert romance’ on the publication of her first book, The sheik. The obsession with the genre, fuelled by the release of Melford's 1921 film adaptation of the book, saw women swooning in the aisles at ‘screen god’ Rudolph Valentino's starring role. My aim here is to broaden the focus on Hull away from the much maligned novel, The sheik, by suggesting that Hull's subsequent novels, though never straying very far from the lucrative formula she cultivated with her first novel, were, in part at least, written in reaction to the uproar caused by this novel. I argue that Hull's representation of androgynous and cross-dressing women allows for her heroines to inhabit positions of relative power in relation to their male counterparts. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3049801
- author
- Turner, Ellen LU
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- E.M. Hull, desert romance, cross-dressing, gender
- in
- Journal of Gender Studies
- volume
- 20
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 171 - 182
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:79960511398
- ISSN
- 0958-9236
- DOI
- 10.1080/09589236.2011.565197
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- faa24ccc-4762-4dbd-a3c1-ca9699874ff0 (old id 3049801)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:19:30
- date last changed
- 2022-01-25 22:07:27
@article{faa24ccc-4762-4dbd-a3c1-ca9699874ff0,
abstract = {{In 1919 the now largely forgotten popular novelist E.M. Hull sparked a decade of infatuation with the ‘desert romance’ on the publication of her first book, The sheik. The obsession with the genre, fuelled by the release of Melford's 1921 film adaptation of the book, saw women swooning in the aisles at ‘screen god’ Rudolph Valentino's starring role. My aim here is to broaden the focus on Hull away from the much maligned novel, The sheik, by suggesting that Hull's subsequent novels, though never straying very far from the lucrative formula she cultivated with her first novel, were, in part at least, written in reaction to the uproar caused by this novel. I argue that Hull's representation of androgynous and cross-dressing women allows for her heroines to inhabit positions of relative power in relation to their male counterparts.}},
author = {{Turner, Ellen}},
issn = {{0958-9236}},
keywords = {{E.M. Hull; desert romance; cross-dressing; gender}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{171--182}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Journal of Gender Studies}},
title = {{E.M. Hull and the Valentino cult: gender reversal after The sheik}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2011.565197}},
doi = {{10.1080/09589236.2011.565197}},
volume = {{20}},
year = {{2011}},
}