Steampunk Sherlock Holmes: Knowledge Exchange and Impact through Experiential Reading in Minecraft

Steampunk Sherlock Holmes meets the need to re-engage children and adults with classic works of literature that are a vital part of our culture and heritage in new experiential ways. It does this by embedding literary texts and activities within a gaming environment (Minecraft) that enables a multimodal reading experience, appropriate for the 21st century. We will map the first collection of Sherlock Holmes stories as well as the novel, The Sign of Four. We will use the digital platform to bring stories to life.

The project explores a new partnership for knowledge exchange and investigates a new business model working with a commercial partner (BLOCKWORKS: https://www.blockworks.uk). Minecraft is a popular creative game in which a random world is procedurally generated in a pixelated form. As a form of "virtual Lego" one can build freely within it and thus it has considerable educational potential. This project capitalises upon this in a unique way, demonstrating a highly innovative approach to impact for Literary Studies using the digital domain. The Minecraft map will be built using Charles Booth's 12 Maps of London Poverty (1898-99). Impact is underpinned by specialist knowledge in the field of literary mapping and spatial narratology for both PI and RA. The readerly structure and narrative forms of detective fiction are inherently "interactive" involving ludic, puzzle-solving elements as part of the story. We will take these literary elements and use them to create an experiential structure (centred on "found" objects) within the build.

For the researchers, as well as learning through the process of partnership, this is an opportunity to make a much larger map/build than is possible working alone (see Visual Evidence for detail of map). We can take our research and impact out to a larger non-academic audience and engage with new virtual user communities worldwide. On their side, BLOCKWORKS seek to develop their research portfolio and to explore the potential of building imaginary literary spaces in the Minecraft environment and embedding text. Partnering with Litcraft at Lancaster University provides them with the means of understanding how to map and spatialise texts at a high level. Thus we can work together to find new ways of combining literary mapping and reading through an in-game experience.

The project is designed and developed in a joint, consultative way, as well as with testing of users and in schools. The primary partner also enables the large-scale build to be launched commercially through the Minecraft marketplace (https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/marketplace) for which they are already an approved vendor. Each partner is contributing 50% of the cost of the build, with BLOCKWORKS being repaid through revenue generated. IP is retained by Litcraft and Lancaster University.

As well as the macro-build, we will also make a smaller self-contained build for The Sign of Four that will be based in Victorian London (using a section of the master-map) but bridge into the Imperialist backstory set in India, allowing full exploration of the themes in the text. This will be for use in schools, but with an older age group than for previous builds. This also makes it attractive to Minecraft.edu, who are interested in exploring the potential of Minecraft with older children. They have agreed to freely convert and host it worldwide via Minecraft.edu (https://education.minecraft.net/en-us).

Linked to the project but outside of the limits of the FoF costings is an AHRC IAA funded bid for which we have an Agreement in Principle from Lancaster University. This would enable us to undertake further impact work once the build is complete with the British Library, linked to their Classic Crime exhibition planned for late 2023-24.