Watsonian and Doylist: The Eternal Struggle - The Fandomentals
“When you get really into a fandom, it’s sometimes easy to forget that, well, it’s not real. You start speaking as if the characters are real people who live in a real world where sometimes shit happens. You start to judge them entirely by their own standards, and the standards of their world. Congratulations, you are being overly Watsonian.
Other times, for whatever reason, you fail to suspend your disbelief when engaging with fiction. All you see is the brushstroke of the writer’s work and how she has the power to make things happen with impunity. You start to judge the characters who live in a different universe by your own standards, or at least the author’s. Congratulations, you are being overly Doylist.
The two terms, Watsonian and Doylist, have been in vogue lately in several fandoms. And good, because this conflict in all literary analysis is a very useful and enlightening concept to keep in mind. And I promise you, once you understand them, you will see every fandom discussion as either Watsonian or Doylist.
They come from the Sherlock Holmes fandom. Dr. Watson is the narrator; he’s in the story. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the author; he’s outside of the story.
So a Watsonian perspective is inside the story, because that’s how Watson was trying to solve the mystery. “What motivated the character to act this way?” “What are the characters’ beliefs and values?”
A Doylist perspective, on the other hand, is external, because the mystery was constructed by a Scottish Victorian who believed in fairies. “What were the author’s motivations for constructing the scene this way?” “What is the author trying to communicate to the reader through this text?” …Read More