Exploring fan fiction communities : readers as writers

Abstract

Fanfiction does not have the reputation of being legitimate literature. This dissertation examines how fanfiction communities transform readers into active participants and co creators of this aspect of literary culture. Within both popular and academic circles, many authors and even readers do not view this literary practice as credible or do not acknowledge its right to exist in the literary sphere. They dismiss it as a subpar writing community that creates work for enjoyment and readers who would indulge in the same media. This perception has marginalised this creative space into a box of ‘created only for the fans by the fans’ type of rhetoric, framing them as derivative and secondary to canonical works. Rather than addressing questions of legitimacy or authenticity that have dominated the fanfiction discourse, this dissertation will show how essential this literary form can be to the community and its collaborative process. By mainly harking back to Henry Jenkins and Linda Hutcheon for their theories on the culture of participation and adaptation, along with other relevant theorists. This will provide further explanation of the fans’ compelling nature to delve into the writing space and of the ability to support multiple expansions. To address this question, two published texts will be analysed closely as representations of works that originated from fanfiction. These works complement the concept of this research, as they all fundamentally address the core motivation behind a fan’s desire to create parallel universes or creative adaptations. These two are Anna Todd’s After (2014) and Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009). The focus throughout is on the structure of the community to sustain the fanfiction genre, with several other explorations that will be drawn out from other theorists and challenging the idea of the canon.