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Television Studies: Sherlock, James, Harry: Transmedia Characters

ENGL 078.401
instructor(s):

"Sherlock, James, and Harry" will examine the texts and contexts surrounding three icons of British masculinity: Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, and Harry Potter. While each of these figures was born in text, all three rapidly went "transmedia," appearing in on stage, and in magazines, movies, television, comics, video games, theme parks, and across the internet. Each also has the ability to conjure up an entire literary, historical, and cultural milieu: Victorian London, Europe during the Cold War, and the Great Britain of New Labour. We will study various theories of adaptation as we follow these characters' transmedia adventures; we will consider them as astonishingly successful representations of masculinity and nation that have been exported around the world. Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, and Harry Potter are characters that millions of people have become invested in, and through them, we can examine what kind of stories become meaningful and powerful at particular moments—and why.

fulfills requirements
Elective of the Standard Major