Massachusetts Teen Summit 2013: Fandom and YA Literature

YA Literature and Fandom

presented by Robin Brenner

“Fan fiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker. They don’t do it for money. That’s not what it’s about. The writers write it and put it up online just for the

satisfaction. They’re fans, but they’re not silent, couchbound consumers of media. The culture talks to them, and they talk back to the culture in its own language.”

The Boy Who Lived Forever -Lev Grossman, Time Magazine

The Odysse

y

Pride and

Prejudice

King Lear

Little Women

TheIlliad

Mrs. Dallowa

y

Sherlock

Holmes

Sherlock

Holmes

The Wizard of OZ

Robinson

CrusoeBeowulf Jane

Eyre

Pride and

Prejudice

Much Ado

AboutNothing

Sherlock

Holmes

Charles Dickens

Macbeth

Pride and

Prejudice

Twelfth Night

HamletFrankenste

in

Edgar Allen Poe

Romeo and Juliet

Don Quixote

Persuasion

Jane Eyre

The Turn of

the Screw

Hamlet

The Strange

Case of Dr.

Jekyl and Mr.

Hyde

Othello

Jane Eyre

SherlockHolmes

What is fandom?• The idea of fandom developed in the 19th century,

originally in reference to sports fans. In the ’20s, the sci-fi community adopted the term, and it’s been around ever since.

• What can be a fandom? Anything! One might be a fan of cats, for example, and make fan videos, stories, art, and cute gifs about them.

• Fanfiction has been around since Virgil read The Iliad and said to himself, “But what about Aeneas? I want to know more about him!” These are impulses that have existed for centuries and have nothing to do with the creativity or morality of the writer—only the love they have for the source material.

The legal thingThe debate over the legality of fanfiction centers around whether you believe fanfiction is derivative or transformative.

•Derivative = secondary work adds nothing to the original source in value.

•Transformative = that work is building on to what the canon started.

If a case can be made for the fanwork as transformative, the U.S. copyright “fair use” clause is fully protective of the work, whether it is done for free or for profit.

Legally, courts are undecided about whether fanwork is derivative or transformative. The Wind Done Gone (published fanfiction of Gone With the Wind) was ruled transformative, but then a sequel to Catcher in the Rye failed the transformative work test just four years ago.

What are fan works?• Fanfiction = writing

• Podfic = audio of fanfiction

• Fanvids = videos

• Fan art = illustrations & comics

• Filk = music

• Fan mixes = music playlists

• Cosplay = costumes

• Crafts = handmade, needlework, jewelry, etc.

• Meta = analysis & criticism

Speaking like a fan• Pairing

• OTP (one true pairing)

• Ship (short for relationship)

• Gen (no romance)

• Het/Slash/Femslash (m/f, m/m, f/f romance included)

• Canon

• Fanon

• AU (alternate universe)

• Crossovers

• PWP (plot what plot?)

• RPF (real people fiction)

Fandom is...• Fun! Escapism is a bit part of the appeal

• Creative. Remixing and reinvention is the norm.

• Quality. It may take some digging, but high quality work is what makes fans stick around.

• Inclusive. Participants find representation in fan works that they are missing in traditional works.

Welcome to Night Vale: The Many Faces of Cecil

palaceofposey

tootledoodledandy

theangelsinthedogpark

magicbunnyart

coquiwi

gingerhaole thaumivore

kinomatika

Voice actor Cecil Baldwin

littleulvar

oatsprite revorocketnails

Fandom is...• Speculative. Fans love filling in gaps, asking

what if, and expanding favorite universes.

• Focused on relationships. Shipping is key to many fans, and they are finding their romance fix online rather than in print.

• All about characters. More than worlds, fan works allow fans to spend time with, critique and reimagine their favorites.

“Fandom, after all, is born of a balance between fascination and frustration: if media content didn’t fascinate us, there would be no desire to engage with it; but if it didn’t frustrate us on some level, there would be no drive to rewrite or remake it.”

- Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture, 2006

How do your describe your gender?

How do your

describe your

sexuality?

How do teens participate?

• 97% read fanfiction, looked at fanart, or watched fanvids

• 85% written fanfiction

• 79% participated actively in fandom communities

• 55% created fan art

Why fandom?“I like the endless remixing. I like the incredible talent and creativity people show. I like how the familiar (characters I know, at least from

other sources) remain familiar and yet change. I like the interconnectedness of it, how fanwork is in a conversation with other fanworks

and with the fannish community. I like that my standards and interests are the norm in my part of fandom, not the exception. I like that there are warnings, that I can find what interests me by tag, and that I can

read exactly what I'm looking for. I like that it's free, created in a gift culture, something that is

made for love and shared out of love. I like that I never run out of things to read.”

Fandom criticizes“Fanworks are the branding that help me to appreciate a franchise better. When someone tries to sell me on a show/book/movie, they usually try a certain premise or emotion that will appeal to me. Fanworks are the other

end - there's nothing left to spoil, we know how everything turns out, and now we can get down to the analysis, commentary, remixing, and laughs.”

Fandom is community“I've made several friends who are just as

nerdy as I am, even if they don't go to my

school or live in the same city. It's reassuring as a teenager, when the social pressures of high school are very real and very present, to know that it's ok to love something enough to interact with it the way you do with a fandom.”

Fandom fills gaps“It's given me endless amounts of joy, introduced me to the entire concept of gay...as a completely non-controversial thing thus probably shaping my entire life past 7th grade:

I have no idea how me figuring out I liked girls would have happened without fandom, but as was, it was literally a completely nondramatic affair.”

Fandom teaches“I'm writing more and better, and I have a much clearer perception of how important it is to have depth and subtext -

reading the volume of fic I have has made me a more critical reader in a way that public-school English classes couldn't (robotically finding and interpreting literary elements is dull work that does not necessarily encourage complex thought).”

Authorship“It's certainly made me appreciate more just how difficult creative work can be. Mostly, though, it's made me feel that

once you have created an original work and let it out into the world, those characters you've created are no longer entirely yours. Every person who reads about them or sees them will take those characters into themselves and read

something different into them, and all of those readings are equally valid and equally fascinating.”

Fandom inspires“When the spirit moves you, you create, even if it's a 500 word drabble about werewolves in space.”“I began writing fanfiction 3.5 yrs ago and

after I developed a substantial following, I eventually started writing original fiction. I've now been published, something I wouldn't have imagined before I became heavily involved in fandom.”

Fandom encourages

“Before fandoms, I thought you needed a fancy degree or a medal from the queen to write ACTUAL stories. But when I figured out that there is more to life then internet explorer and

neopets, I realized that kids were writing. Everyone was writing. And everyone could do it. Then I started to do it. AND LIKE WOAH. I honestly think I started writing stories

because I started out writing fanfiction. And now I want to minor in creative writing. ”

The Hunger Games by Faith Erin Hicks | deviantArt

The Malfoy family in the style of Earl Oliver Hurst by Makani (website | deviantArt | Art Challenge)

Calvin and Hobbes by ontheshoresofthebroken

Calvin and Hobbes fanart by kizer180 | deviantArt

William Riker by John AllisonCreator of Scary Go Round

Sherlock fanart by sdkay

The various Sherlocks by lowlighter, lowlighter.tumblr.com

Captain America aka Steve Rogers, by 菊叔Soldier by J.C. Leyendecker

The Trans-Siberian Spectacular and Charleston Handshake by nihilnovisubsole

Welcome to Night Vale Listening Party

Teen interviews

Avengers fanart by Noelle Stevenson | gingerhaze.tumblr.com