introduCtion: AdAptAtion in A ConvergenCe environMent
23
perspective, Schober proposes to reconceptualize success in adaptations as
a process of survival in a new cultural environment through (evolutionary)
adaptation.
The following contributions by Bettina Soller, Eckart Voigts, and Costas
Constandinides examine texts whose production and aesthetics either
emerged in fan circles and then became commercialized or are positioned,
commercially or aesthetically, between the professional and non-professional
sphere. In her chapter, Bettina Soller analyzes what she calls “layered adaptation,” a process through which texts that began their lives as (erotic)
fanfiction of successful novels can be transformed first into books that
stand on their own, then adaptations that finally launch their own separate
franchises. Both of her primary examples, Fifty Shades of Grey (originally a
piece of Twilight fanfiction) and The Mortal Instruments (originally Harry
Potter fanfiction) were shared in the online fanfiction community before
being rewritten for commercial publication as independent works. In her
article, Soller discusses a range of topics, from issues of intellectual property
to questions of collective versus individual authorship that become even
more complicated in fanf iction with its processes of beta-readers and
community feedback. In this fashion, Soller traces the networks of actors
involved in adaptations, as well as the evolutionary/commercial flourishing
of their products that Schober theorized in her contribution, by analyzing
concrete examples. Instead of dwelling on these theoretical issues, Soller
therefore traces how fans can “change sides” and turn into authorial and
authoritative figures by shaping their own franchises. Her examination of
the ways in which E.L. James, in particular, tries to stage her persona as a
writer by strategically managing her past as a fanfiction writer, points to a
re-emergence of the role of the author as a figure whose presence organizes
a text. It is no coincidence then that similar issues of an uneasy transition
from fan to writer reappear in Benjamin Poore’s discussion of Steven Moffat
and Mark Gatiss, creators of BBC’s Sherlock, who likewise alternate between
building on their credentials as fans and setting themselves apart from
their audience.
Eckart Voigts sheds a different light on fannish ways of production that
make their way into the commercial mainstream. He examines a genre
peculiar to an age of media convergence: the (quirky) mashup novel. He
sees these books as adaptations of techniques deriving from fan production,
particularly mashing and remixing, that depend to a large degree on the
paratextual management of authors and publishers. Novels such as William
Shakespeare’s Star Wars®, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or Two Gentlemen
of Lebowski combine high culture with popular texts and phenomena.
23
perspective, Schober proposes to reconceptualize success in adaptations as
a process of survival in a new cultural environment through (evolutionary)
adaptation.
The following contributions by Bettina Soller, Eckart Voigts, and Costas
Constandinides examine texts whose production and aesthetics either
emerged in fan circles and then became commercialized or are positioned,
commercially or aesthetically, between the professional and non-professional
sphere. In her chapter, Bettina Soller analyzes what she calls “layered adaptation,” a process through which texts that began their lives as (erotic)
fanfiction of successful novels can be transformed first into books that
stand on their own, then adaptations that finally launch their own separate
franchises. Both of her primary examples, Fifty Shades of Grey (originally a
piece of Twilight fanfiction) and The Mortal Instruments (originally Harry
Potter fanfiction) were shared in the online fanfiction community before
being rewritten for commercial publication as independent works. In her
article, Soller discusses a range of topics, from issues of intellectual property
to questions of collective versus individual authorship that become even
more complicated in fanf iction with its processes of beta-readers and
community feedback. In this fashion, Soller traces the networks of actors
involved in adaptations, as well as the evolutionary/commercial flourishing
of their products that Schober theorized in her contribution, by analyzing
concrete examples. Instead of dwelling on these theoretical issues, Soller
therefore traces how fans can “change sides” and turn into authorial and
authoritative figures by shaping their own franchises. Her examination of
the ways in which E.L. James, in particular, tries to stage her persona as a
writer by strategically managing her past as a fanfiction writer, points to a
re-emergence of the role of the author as a figure whose presence organizes
a text. It is no coincidence then that similar issues of an uneasy transition
from fan to writer reappear in Benjamin Poore’s discussion of Steven Moffat
and Mark Gatiss, creators of BBC’s Sherlock, who likewise alternate between
building on their credentials as fans and setting themselves apart from
their audience.
Eckart Voigts sheds a different light on fannish ways of production that
make their way into the commercial mainstream. He examines a genre
peculiar to an age of media convergence: the (quirky) mashup novel. He
sees these books as adaptations of techniques deriving from fan production,
particularly mashing and remixing, that depend to a large degree on the
paratextual management of authors and publishers. Novels such as William
Shakespeare’s Star Wars®, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or Two Gentlemen
of Lebowski combine high culture with popular texts and phenomena.