filing off the seriAl nuMbers
61
aspects of what I call “layered adaptation,” a term that refers to consecutive
adaptations (novel series that are adapted into fanfiction, which is then
transposed to the book market) and adaptations on different levels (stories
and texts as well as writing practices and the performance of authorship).
“Adaptation” as a concept and the perspective of adaptation studies can be
made useful, first, to explain how fanfiction can be understood as a form
of adaptation and to point at the differences between the adaptation and
appropriation of a series of media texts into fanfiction by fan authors and
the transposition of these texts to the book market. Employed to refer to
the evolutionary processes of adapting practices to different writing and
publishing habitats, “adaptation” also helps to illuminate the processes of
adapting practices of communication and authorship performances by
Leonard and Rumelt in their transition from the realm of fanfiction writing
to the realm of professional authorship. “Layered adaptation” is therefore
not only a linear process, but refers to the chronological activities as well
as to processes of adaptations taking place simultaneously on different
levels. The investigation thus includes the level of textuality on which the
adaptation of (multiple) pre-texts and genre conventions takes place as
well as the level of practices on which writing, reception, and authorship
performances are adapted. 8
Fanfiction and adaptation theory
In her seminal work A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon struggles to
include fanfiction as a form of adaptation. In the main part of the book, she
argues that all fanfictions, like prequels and sequels, are mere expansions
of the existing narratives, which fans write because they do not “want
[…] a story to end.” 9 In contrast to her treatment of fanfiction, Hutcheon
includes computer or video games that engage with imaginary worlds 10 of
existing media texts, its characters, events and settings, without necessarily repeating the story of the pre-text, which she argues is central for
8 I want to follow Birgit Spengler in her use of terminology using “pre-text” instead of “source”
etc. to describe a “text that precedes another text temporally, but […] can also be read in the sense
of “pretext” or excuse. […] Thus, the term raises but ultimately rejects the idea of subsidiariness,”
see Birgit Spengler, Literary Spinoffs: Rewriting the Classics ‒ Re-Imagining the Community
(Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2015), 13 (note).
9 Linda Hutcheon and Siobhan O’Flynn, A Theory of Adaptation, 2 nd ed. (New York: Routledge,
2013), 9.
10 Ibid., 14.
61
aspects of what I call “layered adaptation,” a term that refers to consecutive
adaptations (novel series that are adapted into fanfiction, which is then
transposed to the book market) and adaptations on different levels (stories
and texts as well as writing practices and the performance of authorship).
“Adaptation” as a concept and the perspective of adaptation studies can be
made useful, first, to explain how fanfiction can be understood as a form
of adaptation and to point at the differences between the adaptation and
appropriation of a series of media texts into fanfiction by fan authors and
the transposition of these texts to the book market. Employed to refer to
the evolutionary processes of adapting practices to different writing and
publishing habitats, “adaptation” also helps to illuminate the processes of
adapting practices of communication and authorship performances by
Leonard and Rumelt in their transition from the realm of fanfiction writing
to the realm of professional authorship. “Layered adaptation” is therefore
not only a linear process, but refers to the chronological activities as well
as to processes of adaptations taking place simultaneously on different
levels. The investigation thus includes the level of textuality on which the
adaptation of (multiple) pre-texts and genre conventions takes place as
well as the level of practices on which writing, reception, and authorship
performances are adapted. 8
Fanfiction and adaptation theory
In her seminal work A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon struggles to
include fanfiction as a form of adaptation. In the main part of the book, she
argues that all fanfictions, like prequels and sequels, are mere expansions
of the existing narratives, which fans write because they do not “want
[…] a story to end.” 9 In contrast to her treatment of fanfiction, Hutcheon
includes computer or video games that engage with imaginary worlds 10 of
existing media texts, its characters, events and settings, without necessarily repeating the story of the pre-text, which she argues is central for
8 I want to follow Birgit Spengler in her use of terminology using “pre-text” instead of “source”
etc. to describe a “text that precedes another text temporally, but […] can also be read in the sense
of “pretext” or excuse. […] Thus, the term raises but ultimately rejects the idea of subsidiariness,”
see Birgit Spengler, Literary Spinoffs: Rewriting the Classics ‒ Re-Imagining the Community
(Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2015), 13 (note).
9 Linda Hutcheon and Siobhan O’Flynn, A Theory of Adaptation, 2 nd ed. (New York: Routledge,
2013), 9.
10 Ibid., 14.