62
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
most theories of adaptation. 11 Investigating the criteria and practices that
comprise her definition of adaptation, the exclusion of fanfiction seems
almost arbitrary. While Hutcheon herself does not qualify her assessment
in the revised version of her study, the second edition is followed by an
epilogue by Siobhan O’Flynn that considers adaptation in a digital context
and touches upon fan productivity, including fanfiction. This expression of
unease to include fanfiction in this broad group of texts, and its appearance
in the epilogue of the book, mirrors the reluctance of established literary
studies to include fanfiction in its corpus. This reluctance is astonishing
considering the amount of fanfiction available online, which probably
outnumbers any other form of digital fiction writing, and its huge number
of authors and readers, and, as the case studies at hand show, the impact of
fanfiction on the contemporary literary landscape in general.
One reason for the exclusion of fanfiction is its derivative nature and its
specific aesthetics, which often lead scholars and literary critics to have an
overly simplified notion of fanfiction, which is opposed to the differentiated
concept of the genre by its connoisseurs. The (aca-)fan-driven site Fanlore
provides a minimal definition of fanfiction as “written by fans for other
fans […].” 12 While there are fans writing just for themselves, fanfiction
“is most commonly produced within the context of a fannish community
and can be shared online such as in archives or in print such as in zines”
and takes “a source text or a famous person as a point of departure.” 13 The
open and communal nature of fanfiction, which allows for good and bad
writing, has generally preserved its free availability in web archives such
as Fanfiction.net or Wattpad, on personal blogs, Tumblr, or other sites that
fans use to publish, despite the nascent presence of fanfiction in commercial
spaces like Amazon’s Kindle Worlds. 14 In the context of fanfiction, users
can engage as readers and writers or offer to proofread and support authors
as so-called “beta-readers.” “Lurkers” can read fanfiction and observe the
fan community online without leaving visible traces. At least potentially,
readers can become authors themselves and partake in communication
11 Ibid., 10.
12 Henry Jenkins has popularized the term “aca-fan,” which has since been employed by many
scholars to describe their own context investigating fandom and media texts both from a critical
perspective as academics and as fans and consumers of these texts, see Henry Jenkins, Fans,
Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture, (New York: New York UP, 2006), 4.
13 “Fanfiction,” Fanlore, accessed Jan. 3, 2017.
14 Kindle Worlds is a platform opened by Amazon in 2013. Here fans can publish and sell
fanfiction for specific franchise, which are owned by Amazon, as for example Gossip Girl and
The Vampire Diaries.
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
most theories of adaptation. 11 Investigating the criteria and practices that
comprise her definition of adaptation, the exclusion of fanfiction seems
almost arbitrary. While Hutcheon herself does not qualify her assessment
in the revised version of her study, the second edition is followed by an
epilogue by Siobhan O’Flynn that considers adaptation in a digital context
and touches upon fan productivity, including fanfiction. This expression of
unease to include fanfiction in this broad group of texts, and its appearance
in the epilogue of the book, mirrors the reluctance of established literary
studies to include fanfiction in its corpus. This reluctance is astonishing
considering the amount of fanfiction available online, which probably
outnumbers any other form of digital fiction writing, and its huge number
of authors and readers, and, as the case studies at hand show, the impact of
fanfiction on the contemporary literary landscape in general.
One reason for the exclusion of fanfiction is its derivative nature and its
specific aesthetics, which often lead scholars and literary critics to have an
overly simplified notion of fanfiction, which is opposed to the differentiated
concept of the genre by its connoisseurs. The (aca-)fan-driven site Fanlore
provides a minimal definition of fanfiction as “written by fans for other
fans […].” 12 While there are fans writing just for themselves, fanfiction
“is most commonly produced within the context of a fannish community
and can be shared online such as in archives or in print such as in zines”
and takes “a source text or a famous person as a point of departure.” 13 The
open and communal nature of fanfiction, which allows for good and bad
writing, has generally preserved its free availability in web archives such
as Fanfiction.net or Wattpad, on personal blogs, Tumblr, or other sites that
fans use to publish, despite the nascent presence of fanfiction in commercial
spaces like Amazon’s Kindle Worlds. 14 In the context of fanfiction, users
can engage as readers and writers or offer to proofread and support authors
as so-called “beta-readers.” “Lurkers” can read fanfiction and observe the
fan community online without leaving visible traces. At least potentially,
readers can become authors themselves and partake in communication
11 Ibid., 10.
12 Henry Jenkins has popularized the term “aca-fan,” which has since been employed by many
scholars to describe their own context investigating fandom and media texts both from a critical
perspective as academics and as fans and consumers of these texts, see Henry Jenkins, Fans,
Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture, (New York: New York UP, 2006), 4.
13 “Fanfiction,” Fanlore, accessed Jan. 3, 2017.
14 Kindle Worlds is a platform opened by Amazon in 2013. Here fans can publish and sell
fanfiction for specific franchise, which are owned by Amazon, as for example Gossip Girl and
The Vampire Diaries.