Meaning of Watsonian | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Resembling or characteristic of the character Dr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes stories.
2. From an in-universe perspective; of or relating to an explanation within the text; internal to the narrative.
   slang

Examples

“I would accept that many of them behave like humans born on earth would, but that must be an artefact of poor translation or our poor understanding of their motives and objectives [Watsonian] or lack of vision on the writers part [Doylist - to borrow some terms from the Bujold mailing list - think 'as written by' Dr Watson or by Arthur Conan Doyle].”

“IIRC, Wells specifically described the choice of Southern England as being as much about "bridgehead" as about "decapitation strike". I think he said something about settling in to the island and building up strength before spreading out to the continent and planet.¶ That's the Watsonian explanation of course, the Doyleist explanation is that he was writing an allegory of white men wiping about the Tasmanians, from the point of view of the Tasmanians. He needed to set it where his English readers would be horrified by the destruction, and the Martian invasion of Korea or Florida or Sri Lanka, or even Ireland, wouldn't have had as much of an impact.”

“While fans recognize and do engage in Doylist readings, they tend to find Watsonian readings more engaging. Fan fiction writers in particular engage with the text intradiegetically.”

“I think the best Watsonian explanation is that shopkeepers aren't quite right in the head. They know that most players intend to rob them blind, but don't understand how the successful ones are doing it.”

CEFR level