"The (Video)game is afoot": subtitling deductions in Sherlock Holmes's adaptations

This study inquires on the adaptations of Sherlock Holmes as a character in TV series and videogames, focusing specifically on the process of deduction of the protagonist and the linguistic and visual elements that reinforce the figure of the genius and his intellect. The adaptation from novel to TV series to videogame implies that prominent, identifying features of Sherlock Holmes are inevitably subject to changes, such as shifting from Watson’s perspective (in the novels) to Sherlock’s (in the videogame), as well as artistic choices resulting in radical manipulation of the text. Specifically, this paper will focus on how the scientific method (clue collection and deduction) is being rendered and adapted in both the TV series Sherlock (2010) and the videogame Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments (2014), and consequently on how it impacts the characterization of the detective in different medias. The original English script and the Italian subtitling of the texts will undergo scrutiny, as well as the use of creative subtitling aimed at representing the inner workings of the detective’s mind both visually and verbally (such as dynamic subtitles that decipher hints and clues as the detective observes). The study will consider excerpts and selected passages from A Study in Scarlet (1887), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) and The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905) by Arthur Conan Doyle, in order to profile how key sentences, plots and identifying characteristics of the detective have been adapted from the literature and to discuss the impact of the audiovisual medias on said features. Ultimately, considerations on the translation strategies employed both in the dynamic subtitling and the scripts will be made, taking into account the function and aim of the texts, such as interaction being prioritized in videogames, in order to highlight discrepancies or constraints of the audiovisual translations into Italian. By addressing how the character is reinterpreted or modernized while remaining recognizable, this paper discusses which key aspects of the detective are transferred from a purely textual medium to a multimodal setting and how this process unfolds from a linguistic and translational perspective. In doing so, the study provides insight on how creative adaptation, translation and transcreation of audiovisual texts impact, both visually and linguistically, the re- characterization of well-known literary figures such as Sherlock Holmes.