Which writers, critics, academics have written well on the subject of fanfic and slash?
October 19, 2010 6:31 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for people who have written well about about fanfic and slash. I'd particularly like to find any academics or writers who've researched or written about the phenomenon in depth, including subgenres like mpreg, yaoi, RPS etc. Can you suggest anyone?
Bonus question: which writers and/or publishers are strongly opposed to slash and try to get it outlawed, sites shut down etc.?
Bonus question: which writers and/or publishers are strongly opposed to slash and try to get it outlawed, sites shut down etc.?
The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) is a nonprofit organization run by
and for fans to provide access to and preserve the history of fanworks and fan cultures (including slash)
Transformative Works and Cultures academic journal should be a pretty good starting point
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc Site includes their academic review board members and links to issues/articles.
posted by beaning at 7:58 PM on October 19, 2010
and for fans to provide access to and preserve the history of fanworks and fan cultures (including slash)
Transformative Works and Cultures academic journal should be a pretty good starting point
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc Site includes their academic review board members and links to issues/articles.
posted by beaning at 7:58 PM on October 19, 2010
Henry Jenkins wrote Textual Poachers, which is more about the anthropology of fan culture than fanfic, but is, I think, relevant to a discussion of the medium.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:48 PM on October 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:48 PM on October 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oooh, wait, let me go raid my bookmarks folder...
- For fun and snarking at the silly fights within fandom: Fandom Wank, and to a lesser extent Clairvoyant Wank
- For rants about fandom and poorly-written fanfic: Fandom Rant and The Pitfalls of Fanfiction and Weeping Cock (NSFW!)
- For snippets from interesting discussions going on within fandom: metafandom
- For fandom's version of PostSecret: Fandom Secrets
- For fandom's history (and ongoing problems) of sucking when dealing with issues of race and ethnicity: Dead Bro Walking and Fen of Color United
- For mentions of fandom or fanfic in mass media and mainstream media: Fanthropology
- Personal favorite essay about fandom: "Sexing & selling 'Convergence Culture'", by cryptoxin, who writes a lot about fandom and fan studies both on his own LJ and on the OTW's blog.
posted by Asparagirl at 12:10 AM on October 20, 2010
- For fun and snarking at the silly fights within fandom: Fandom Wank, and to a lesser extent Clairvoyant Wank
- For rants about fandom and poorly-written fanfic: Fandom Rant and The Pitfalls of Fanfiction and Weeping Cock (NSFW!)
- For snippets from interesting discussions going on within fandom: metafandom
- For fandom's version of PostSecret: Fandom Secrets
- For fandom's history (and ongoing problems) of sucking when dealing with issues of race and ethnicity: Dead Bro Walking and Fen of Color United
- For mentions of fandom or fanfic in mass media and mainstream media: Fanthropology
- Personal favorite essay about fandom: "Sexing & selling 'Convergence Culture'", by cryptoxin, who writes a lot about fandom and fan studies both on his own LJ and on the OTW's blog.
posted by Asparagirl at 12:10 AM on October 20, 2010
Also: lawyer and Ph.D. candidate Casey Fiesler's journal article "Everything I Needed to Know in Life I Learned from Fandom: How Existing Social Norms Can Help Shape the Next Generation of User-Generated Content" (PDF of an article from the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law, Vol. 10:3:729)
posted by Asparagirl at 12:23 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by Asparagirl at 12:23 AM on October 20, 2010
In answer to your bonus question, have a list: "Professional author fanfic policies". I hope you get a good mark for your homework....
posted by Lebannen at 5:37 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by Lebannen at 5:37 AM on October 20, 2010
Not so much with the official academia, but this site often has some interesting analysis of fandom from the perspective of someone who used to write in it. Link goes to the specific tag she uses for her fandom writings, but you might find other interesting stuff in other categories. My particular favorite is her two-part Dynamics of Fandom post, complete with fun graphics.
posted by ashirys at 7:43 AM on October 20, 2010
posted by ashirys at 7:43 AM on October 20, 2010
- For snippets from interesting discussions going on within fandom: metafandom
I was going to suggest this community as well. You could possibly even post this query in your own journal (if you have one) and forward the link to them. I bet you would get a lot of helpful replies.
One caveat, though: Metafandom is heavily skewed towards fans who are a) into slash or slash-friendly, and b) fans of Western series. It's not representative of fandom as a whole. For example, anime fandom, in my experience, is much more decentralized and much less introspective. When it does turn its eye on itself, there are often different issues to be discussed. (There are plenty of fans who approach fandom critically, but there isn't the same culture of huge, cross-journal discussions that are bolstered by being linked on communities like Metafandom.)
I'm appalled that you suggested Fanficrants, although I guess it's one good way to see what actual fans' opinions on fanfiction.
...
Hanging my head in shame now.
Anyway, there have been some interesting posts on Making Light over the years. One had a comment that stuck in my head in particular: Someone who was not particularly fannish praised a famous Harry Potter story called "Lust Over Pendle," which was a sort of pastiche of certain kinds of romance/mystery novels. They used it as an example of the heights that fanfic could achieve.
This really drove home the point--to me, anyway--that what makes a good story for someone outside of fandom is not going to be the same as what makes a good story for someone inside of fandom. There really is a different storytelling culture. "Lust Over Pendle" is entertaining, if you like that sort of thing, but takes too many liberties with the source material to be considered one of the best Harry Potter stories, for many (most?) fans.
I can't link to particular posts on Making Light because I haven't saved them, but it's a good place to look for discussions of fanwork by professional authors who are not fans. Most of the people there are friendly towards fandom, but you'll see some people who don't like fanfiction, as well. (Fandom isn't necessarily friendly towards Making Light, due in part to the blog owners engaging in some behavior that many thought was racist. Going into it is probably irrelevant here, and is certainly complicated, so I won't, but just be aware that they're not exactly solid with many of the same people you see on Metafandom.)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:52 PM on October 20, 2010
I was going to suggest this community as well. You could possibly even post this query in your own journal (if you have one) and forward the link to them. I bet you would get a lot of helpful replies.
One caveat, though: Metafandom is heavily skewed towards fans who are a) into slash or slash-friendly, and b) fans of Western series. It's not representative of fandom as a whole. For example, anime fandom, in my experience, is much more decentralized and much less introspective. When it does turn its eye on itself, there are often different issues to be discussed. (There are plenty of fans who approach fandom critically, but there isn't the same culture of huge, cross-journal discussions that are bolstered by being linked on communities like Metafandom.)
...
Hanging my head in shame now.
Anyway, there have been some interesting posts on Making Light over the years. One had a comment that stuck in my head in particular: Someone who was not particularly fannish praised a famous Harry Potter story called "Lust Over Pendle," which was a sort of pastiche of certain kinds of romance/mystery novels. They used it as an example of the heights that fanfic could achieve.
This really drove home the point--to me, anyway--that what makes a good story for someone outside of fandom is not going to be the same as what makes a good story for someone inside of fandom. There really is a different storytelling culture. "Lust Over Pendle" is entertaining, if you like that sort of thing, but takes too many liberties with the source material to be considered one of the best Harry Potter stories, for many (most?) fans.
I can't link to particular posts on Making Light because I haven't saved them, but it's a good place to look for discussions of fanwork by professional authors who are not fans. Most of the people there are friendly towards fandom, but you'll see some people who don't like fanfiction, as well. (Fandom isn't necessarily friendly towards Making Light, due in part to the blog owners engaging in some behavior that many thought was racist. Going into it is probably irrelevant here, and is certainly complicated, so I won't, but just be aware that they're not exactly solid with many of the same people you see on Metafandom.)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 1:52 PM on October 20, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for all the posts so far. Lots to look at, I really appreciate it.
And it's not homework! Email me via profile/MeMail if you want to know what I'm doing exactly.
posted by Fanficproject at 4:07 PM on October 20, 2010
And it's not homework! Email me via profile/MeMail if you want to know what I'm doing exactly.
posted by Fanficproject at 4:07 PM on October 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
They have a peer-reviewed journal (Transformative Works and Cultures) and an online archive of fanfic: An Archive of our Own.
posted by Paragon at 7:56 PM on October 19, 2010 [2 favorites]