Transforming Middlemarch: A Genetic Edition of Andrew Davies' 1994 BBC Adaptation of George Eliot's novel.

Lead Research Organisation: De Montfort University
Department Name: LMS - Leicester Media School

Abstract

This proposal brings together a range of disciplines, in archive theory, adaptation studies and digital humanities, to develop a methodology to produce the first multi-media scholarly edition of a screen adaptation, using Andrew Davies's (1994) 6-part television serialisation of George Eliot's Middlemarch during the 150th anniversary of its 8-part serialised publication in 1871-2. It will draw substantially on materials from the DMU seed-funded digitisation of the Andrew Davies Papers which were donated to DMU's Special Collections by the writer in 2015 and were the subject of a 2018 BBC documentary Andrew Davies: Rewriting the Classics, which included contributions from Special Collections Archivist Katharine Short and material items.

The project will employ for 15 months a post-doctoral Research Fellow (RF), Dr Lucy Hobbs, under the supervision of PI Professor Justin Smith, Co-I Professor Gabriel Egan, Co-I Dr Anna Blackwell and Assistant Archivist Dr Natalie Hayton, to design a multi-layered hypertext of Davies's Middlemarch including production notes, screenplay drafts and correspondences with actors, producers and directors, and additional print, moving image and audio resources from the BBC, Open University, the BFI and the British Library. The resulting digital 'genetic edition', will enable users to follow Davies's approach to adaptation: his responses to the original sources, his extensive process of script revision, and his creative discussions and collaborative re-editing before and during rehearsals. This digital edition will combine original interviews with Davies and his collaborators, extracts from Middlemarch read by an actor, clips from the final filmed production and other multi-media sources with archival evidence of what lies beneath its construction. It will offer the user new ways to explore the process of adaptation. The resource will be launched on an open access website co-hosted at DMU and at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's George Eliot online archive where it will be beta-tested by the project's special advisor, Dr Beverley Rilett (an Eliot digital humanities expert).

This resource has real pedagogical potential for teachers of literature and adaptation from A-level to post-graduate. Educational and academic publishers have already shown significant interest and will be invited to the BL Study Day, alongside representatives from the George Eliot Fellowship keen to explore museum/heritage applications of the resource. The impact of this applied technology has the potential to transform the user's experience of any literary adaptation.

Feedback will be collected from users of the edition at the events planned. The British Library will host a George Eliot Study Day (to be opened by Andrew Davies) celebrating the 150th anniversary of Middlemarch featuring the new resource at the centre of a presentation of the BL's George Eliot manuscripts and Davies' George Eliot papers. A virtual exhibition featuring the genetic edition and materials from the Davies archive, and an international webinar (involving academics and students) will be co-hosted by DMU and Nebraska-Lincoln, and will share and debate user responses to the resource. RF Hobbs will maintain a smartphone video diary of the project as a report on the process and commentary on any creative, technical, data-protection or legal challenges encountered. Drs Hayton and Hobbs will co-author a transdisciplinary scholarly article on the benefits and challenges of constructing a multimedia genetic edition informed by archival appraisal and selection theory, copyright law and data protection protocols, aimed at The Library journal. The project's work will be showcased in a special issue of the journal Adaptation (OUP) devoted to Davies's work, co-edited by Hobbs and Co-I Blackwell, and commissioned by Prof. Deborah Cartmell, Director of DMU's Centre for Adaptations and founder of the Association of Adaptation Studies (patron Andrew Davies).
 
Description The creation of an open source genetic edition of Andrew Davies' 1994 BBC adaptation of George Eliot's Middlemarch. This multimedia resource, believed to be the first of its kind, uses XML textual encoding - following the principles of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) - to enable comparative analyses charting the journey of a literary adaptation from source novel to script and screen.
Exploitation Route From our study day and related dissemination activities from the prototype genetic edition we have identified the potential both to reach new audiences with the existing resource (a genetic edition of Middlemarch) and to apply this technology to other adaptations for specific target audiences (eg A-level students or visitors to literary heritage sites).
Sectors Education

Leisure Activities

including Sports

Recreation and Tourism

Culture

Heritage

Museums and Collections

URL https://middlemarch.dmu.ac.uk/
 
Description The prototype genetic edition this project has created has had impacts on the following: the screenwriter and script editor, and other members of the cast and crew of the 1994 Middlemarch adaptation; members of the George Eliot Fellowship; MA literature students in Norway and digital humanities students in the USA; representative of educational publishing; English teachers, librarians and archivists. This digital resource has generated overwhelmingly positive feedback and a valuable range of ideas for future development which are in development. Specifically, an English Association workshop delivered to teachers used the resource to model teaching materials and lesson plans for teaching 19th Century texts at Year 9. And the Educational Recording Agency has added the link to its BBC Literary Archive website.
First Year Of Impact 2023
Sector Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural

 
Description British Library collaboration 
Organisation The British Library
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution The research team has drawn on the manuscript holdings of the British Library and published (by agreement) selected digitised pages from the manuscript of George Eliot's novel Middlemarch, bringing wider attention to this manuscript holding.
Collaborator Contribution The British Library has provided access to and supplied digital copies of its manuscript of George Eliot's novel Middlemarch. Its manuscript curators and digital collections staff have provided expertise to our project's digital resource creation. The British Library has provided space and technical support for a Study Day in December 2022.
Impact Digital images from the British Library's archive have been added to the web resource produced by this project. Ideas generated at the Study Day have informed the progress of this research and offered scope for future potential developments.
Start Year 2022
 
Description English Association 
Organisation English Association
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution The English Association contacted us to provide a workshop for teachers based on the outputs of our research, including lesson plans and teaching materials to support the use of adaptations in the English classroom at Year 9.
Collaborator Contribution They hosted the workshop.
Impact Representatives from the Educational Recording Agency attended the workshop which in turn stimulated our partnership with them.
Start Year 2024
 
Description Jane Austen's House 
Organisation Jane Austen's House Museum
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Have entered dialogue about partnering in a Follow-on Funding project in which we would supply educational and exhibition materials around Jane Austen adaptations from our work.
Collaborator Contribution They will help devise, develop and design the materials for installation and web-hosting
Impact Partnership agreement for a Follow-on Funding application
Start Year 2024
 
Title Transforming Middlemarch: A genetic edition' of Andrew Davies' 1994 BBC adaptation of George Eliot's Middlemarch. 
Description This multimedia resource, believed to be the first of its kind, uses XML textual encoding - following the principles of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) - to enable comparative analyses charting the journey of a literary adaptation from source novel to script and screen. 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2023 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact Not yet published. Beta-testing impact suggests this will have a notable influence upon scholarship in the fields of Screenwriting Practice, Adaptations, Archives and Literary Studies. 
URL https://middlemarch.dmu.ac.uk/
 
Description British Library Study Day 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The British Library Study Day intended to bring together expert representatives from educational publishing, English teachers, museum curators and digital humanities specialists, in the company of screenwriters Andrew Davies and Susie Conklin, to explore the prototype genetic edition of the BBC's adaptation of Middlemarch (1994) and to develop ideas for potential dissemination. The targets for impact were of two kinds. Firstly, seeking to identify relevant platforms where the existing resource might reach different interest groups. Secondly, to consider how the technology might be adapted for other literary works and for specific target audiences (eg A-level students' set texts, visitors to literary heritage sites). A variety of tangible proposals emanated from the discussion on both levels, contributed to the finessing of the genetic edition itself and led to significant developments in its pathways to impact plan.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://middlemarch.dmu.ac.uk/
 
Description Presentation to the George Eliot Fellowship 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact This was a presentation by Lucy Hobbs and Anna Blackwell to members of the George Eliot Fellowship at their annual study weekend. It was productive to share the designs for our genetic edition with Eliot experts who were not necessarily fans of Andrew Davies' adaptation nor conversant with the potential of a web-based resource of this kind. The team received useful feedback from the membership which influenced the design of the resource in respect of the needs and abilities of this diverse audience.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022