Fanfiction

Jessica Spitzer-Rubenstein

Professor Lay

WSC 1

December 2, 2011

Fanfiction

What is writing? According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, writing is “the activity or skill of marking coherent words on paper and composing text.” However, in 2011, this definition seems inadequate given the technological advancements of the modern era. Writing today does not just include pen and paper; writing is not only written for “printed reproduction or publication” (New Oxford American Dictionary). Now, writing is done on computers and published online. Anyone can do it, and everyone can read it. The genres of writing have changed as well. Now, a very common online genre is fanfiction. UrbanDictionary.com defines fanfiction as a written work where “someone takes either the story or characters (or both) of a certain piece of work, whether it be a novel, TV show, movie, etc, and create their own story based on it.” Fanfiction has brought a new group of readers, writers and editors into the mix. But is fanfiction really literature?

It can be argued that fanfiction is not a novel concept. In 1614, an anonymous writer published the Second Volume of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, an unauthorized continuation of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. In it, the author used Cervantes’ characters to make his own story, which by definition is fanfiction even if he did not write the book out of admiration for the original work. However, despite the existence of fanfiction that predates even the most rudimentary of contemporary technology, fanfiction is a “modern phenomenon”(Wikipedia).

In the early 1900s, fanfiction was used to describe original science fiction works created by novice authors and published in fanzines. After 1965, however, the definition of fanfiction changed to a more modern version. However, The growing interest in fanfiction is due mostly to the Internet’s interactive and participatory qualities. Sites like fanfiction.net now encourage readers to review the fanfiction they read in order to better the author’s writing in a constructive manner. Both the readers and writers tend to be fans of the original work, but being a fan is not required.

There are many examples of fanfiction that succeed. In 1966, Tom Stoppard premiered Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a highly acclaimed play based on the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In 1995, Gregory Maguire published Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, a Wizard of Oz fanfiction novel following the life of the Wicked Witch of the West, a character Maguire lovingly names Elphaba, instead of Dorothy, as the original did. It soon became a hit Broadway musical, earning around $1.6 million each week.

However, one big question remains: is fanfiction literature? Much of the online fanfiction is not of great quality. Fanfiction cannot be purely original, as it uses other’s work for influence. Because of this, many will argue that fanfiction is in fact not literature. But literature is “all writings in prose or verse, [especially] those of an imaginative or critical character, without regard to their excellence” (Webster). This definition of literature most certainly encompasses fanfiction. Fanfiction is most commonly in prose, fulfilling the first part of the definition of literature. Authors of fanfiction imagine situations for their favorite characters, thus fulfilling the second part of the definition. The final part of the definition states that it does not matter if the writing is good or bad to be literature, so therefore fanfiction is, by definition, literature.

Works Cited

Abate, Frank R., and Elizabeth Jewell. The new Oxford American dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.

Bolter, J. David. Writing space computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. 2nd ed. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000. Print.

"Fan Fiction Statistics - FFN Research: March 2011." Fan Fiction Statistics - FFN Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://ffnresearch.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html>.

"Fan fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction>.

"How Harry Potter Became the Boy Who Lived Forever - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2081784,00.html>.

Mistaki. "Urban Dictionary: fanfiction." Urban Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2011. <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fanfiction&defid=1904435>.

Morrison, M.. "Tips for writing a great fanfiction story - by M. Morrison - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. <http://www.helium.com/items/1749167-tips-for-writing-a-great-fanfiction-story>.

Neufeldt, Victoria, and David Bernard Guralnik. Webster's New World dictionary of American English. 3rd college ed. New York: Webster's New World :, 1988. Print.

"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_and_Guildenstern_Are_Dead>.