froM pArAtex t to polyproCess: the “Quirk y” MAshup novel
105
still owns the rights to the story, only a few scenes can be performed
at a time.” 54
In conclusion, my examination of the polyprocesses emerging in the
textuality of mashup novels has highlighted the commercial and navigational, that is, “performative” functions of paratexts that seem to undercut
and cancel out their presumed interpretive functions. The polyprocesses,
that is, the paratextual transactions emerging with mashup novelizations
exhibit both the centripetal and the centrifugal impetus of fan engagement. Mashers’ authorial self-fashioning as humble fans signals a textual
subservience towards the core of franchises or cult films. To establish the
status of mashup novels as literary “jokes” it is mandatory to highlight the
authorization and canonization of the texts. My findings support Jonathan
Gray’s claim that franchise paratexts tend to create “scripts of value”: “author,
aura, and artistry – all qualities often said to be lacking in the age of bigbudget blockbusters and for-profit art – are hailed and awarded to texts
by their paratexts.” 55
The literariness and bookishness of the projects is reinforced by the
nostalgic re-materialization of print editions in the context of a travesty of
book culture. The pastiche materiality validates and reaffirms the “classic” or
“cult” status of the textual anchors, contributing to their fandom canonization rather than transgressing boundaries or challenging legal properties or
aesthetic proprieties. A mashup novel need not be confrontational unless its
reception indicates otherwise: aesthetic friction, political strife, and legal
action, controversy and confrontation, indignation, and invective – these
are the true indicators of transgression – and, so far, they are missing from
the publication history of mashup novels. Existing mashup novels are, on
the contrary, rather marked by strict adherence to intellectual property
rights and integration into, or painstaking respectfulness towards, the
economic incentives and quasi-religious fannish status of canonized works
and transmedial franchises.
54 Martha Kang, “And Now, ‘Star Wars’ as Shakespeare Might Have Told It,” Quirksee,
last modif ied July 21, 2013, accessed February 15, 2019, www.quirksee.org/2013/07/21/
and-now-star-wars-as-shakespeare-might-have-told-it/.
55 Gray, Shows Sold Separately, 18.
105
still owns the rights to the story, only a few scenes can be performed
at a time.” 54
In conclusion, my examination of the polyprocesses emerging in the
textuality of mashup novels has highlighted the commercial and navigational, that is, “performative” functions of paratexts that seem to undercut
and cancel out their presumed interpretive functions. The polyprocesses,
that is, the paratextual transactions emerging with mashup novelizations
exhibit both the centripetal and the centrifugal impetus of fan engagement. Mashers’ authorial self-fashioning as humble fans signals a textual
subservience towards the core of franchises or cult films. To establish the
status of mashup novels as literary “jokes” it is mandatory to highlight the
authorization and canonization of the texts. My findings support Jonathan
Gray’s claim that franchise paratexts tend to create “scripts of value”: “author,
aura, and artistry – all qualities often said to be lacking in the age of bigbudget blockbusters and for-profit art – are hailed and awarded to texts
by their paratexts.” 55
The literariness and bookishness of the projects is reinforced by the
nostalgic re-materialization of print editions in the context of a travesty of
book culture. The pastiche materiality validates and reaffirms the “classic” or
“cult” status of the textual anchors, contributing to their fandom canonization rather than transgressing boundaries or challenging legal properties or
aesthetic proprieties. A mashup novel need not be confrontational unless its
reception indicates otherwise: aesthetic friction, political strife, and legal
action, controversy and confrontation, indignation, and invective – these
are the true indicators of transgression – and, so far, they are missing from
the publication history of mashup novels. Existing mashup novels are, on
the contrary, rather marked by strict adherence to intellectual property
rights and integration into, or painstaking respectfulness towards, the
economic incentives and quasi-religious fannish status of canonized works
and transmedial franchises.
54 Martha Kang, “And Now, ‘Star Wars’ as Shakespeare Might Have Told It,” Quirksee,
last modif ied July 21, 2013, accessed February 15, 2019, www.quirksee.org/2013/07/21/
and-now-star-wars-as-shakespeare-might-have-told-it/.
55 Gray, Shows Sold Separately, 18.