[DorisTLC]

Use this thread to discuss Modern Genre Theory Examines the World of Harry Potter

Biography

HollyLime is finishing her Master's Thesis for Literature and Creative Writing. She is a former preschool teacher and hopefully future teacher of bigger, older students. She has been particularly fascinated by most things magic/fantasy/sci-fi since being challenged to write a play about the general topic of faeries as an undergrad. She has a great love of children's and young adult literature, fairy tales and storytelling history. She also has an unnatural obsession with all things superhero.

Back in 2000, HollyLime's boyfriend gave her the first Harry Potter book to read because he just knew she'd love them, and her relationship with the books far outlasted her relationship with him.


Abstract

What do the front-page news stories posted on The Leaky Cauldron, those e-mail forwards you love to hate, this week's grocery list and a Harry Potter fan fiction story all have in common? They can all be identified as belonging to a rhetorical genre. Fan fiction is a lively and important part of the fandom, but does it have any meaning or serve any purpose beyond casual entertainment? Using this innovative and relatively new theory, the purpose, function and possibilities for all those 'fics' and the fans who read them is explored.

The essay can be found here.

This post has been edited by AnguaTLC: 28 January 2008 - 02:08 AM

[jest]

This is an impressive and thought provoking investigation. This is my first time reading Scribbulus; I am floored by the complexity and scholarly erudition of many of these essays! In response to your essay, this sort of a la cart choosing of what belongs in the cannon with little regard for the author’s vision could be seen as analogous to the modern phenomenon of choosing ones news outlet based on political leaning. This sort of democratization of reality could be seen as destructive, be it the reality of Hogworts or Capital Hill. On the other hand, one of these places is fictional (I’ll let the reader guess); and one could argue that, as the complexity and nuance of human experience is revealed through fiction, fan fiction can only enhance the revelation. You have been thorough in your listing of the “pluses” and “minuses” of the fan fiction genre; I am interested to know if you, who have obviously put a lot of thought in to it, feel that this genre, fan fiction, is good, bad, or indifferent. Also, I am interested to know if you believe that this is a wholly modern thing, qualitatively different from the literature that has spun off of other literature throughout history. Finally, I would like to know if you believe that the writer of fan fiction actually has any responsibility to the original work. I’m not trying to start a fight, here; I’m actually interested in your point of view.

[Arianhrod]

This is a very well done essay, hollylime. I believe fanfiction can be good for some people, when it's done well. Unfortunately, most of what's out there stretches the original spirit of the story to the point of incredulous. Does the writer have any responsibility to the original work? I think the answer is yes. You have to stay true to the characters; the biggest flaw in fanfiction is that the writers tell a story the way they wish it, and skew the characters accordingly. To me, that makes the story much less enjoyable, because it is the original characters, the way they are drawn by the author, that makes us fall in love with the story in the first place.

Just my two knuts.

[HollyLime]

Wow, I'm so excited someone read my essay. I've been out of town for a couple of weeks so it was nice to come home to well-thought-out responses to my work.

I am interested to know if you, who have obviously put a lot of thought in to it, feel that this genre, fan fiction, is good, bad, or indifferent.

Jest, thanks for a good question. I'd like to think I am not indifferent to fan fiction as a genre, however I think that as a genre it needs more time and careful thought put into it by the writers and readers. I think it is a wonderful resource for fans as long as those fans don't start to cross the line by mixing the fan fiction stories with the canon.

Unfortunately, it is the nature of a good fan fiction to imitate the canon so well as to possibly cause confusion. Honestly, I've given it a lot of thought and I feel like there could be some major issues there that will need to be dealt with sometime in the future, so I hope that analysis like mine can help contribute to a better general understanding of the power and potential of this genre. I don't know if I've answered your question or just gone in circles, but there seems to be a paradox evolving somewhere within this issue.

Also, I am interested to know if you believe that this is a wholly modern thing, qualitatively different from the literature that has spun off of other literature throughout history.

I think that fan fiction as we recognize it today is unique to modern society, but in researching many predecessors of fan fiction can be found throughout English litereary history.

Finally, I would like to know if you believe that the writer of fan fiction actually has any responsibility to the original work. I’m not trying to start a fight, here; I’m actually interested in your point of view.

No argument from me, this same question crept into my mind while writing this essay. In one sense I say yes, the writer of the fan fiction has a responsibility to respect the original work and maintain the thought that their story is in fact a tribute, a literary compliment in the form of imitation. On the other hand, this is a non-professional genre and as long as copyright laws are not broken and there is a ready audience, pretty much anything goes on the internet; it's ultimate free speech/parody. Again that's a roundabout way of saying I'm not sure, but I think that it's worth more discussion and consideration by the fan fiction community.

Unfortunately, most of what's out there stretches the original spirit of the story to the point of incredulous.

Thanks for the feedback, Arianhrod! I agree, the idea of fan fiction is a good one, but the ideals of fan fiction allow for such left-field stretches of the original that it can come back to haunt the original idea of the characters. I wish that fan fiction was more revered as a creative writing tool/practice as opposed to creating its own, selectable version of the canon.

[WaggaWaggaWerewolf]

Hollylime that was an excellent essay. And you are to be congratulated for the objective way you discussed the H/Hr shipping wars after HBP was published. Frankly, I never dreamed there was so much to fan fiction as a genre. In whatever fan fiction I have seen, it is more a case of encouraging those people who have made the effort to write at all, and to be gratified if they manage a story that is readable and enjoyable.

In your essay, on three occasions you refer to avoiding 'Mary Sue' or refraining from indulging in 'Mary Sue' or else the 'Mary Sue' cliche. Would you please explain exactly what you mean by 'Mary Sue'? I can't say I am familiar with the name or what is meant by the term.

[Witherwings]

Yes, that was very informative, Hollylime! I knew nothing about fan fiction or modern genres and such, so I learned a lot. I had never heard the term "Mary Sue" either! I followed the Wikipedia link in your footnotes and found out what it meant. It's amazing when fans take an idea and branch it off in a million new directions until the branches become phenomena of their own... mind-boggling really...

[HollyLime]

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my essay and comment, WaggaWaggaWerewolf and Witherwings! I know it is long, so I appriciate anyone who took the time to read it and comment.

In answer to the Mary Sue question, as Wintherwings mentioned there is a very informative Winkipedia Link. I had heard the term, but before starting my research did not know much about it.

Interestingly, I found a link (somewhere) to that very first story that "created" the term. Though Paula Smith wrote it out of frustration, it actually dealt with a major issue than a genre like fan fiction naturally would harbor. It was quite obvious to her that these female characters were the personifications of the female author's fantasies and daydreams. And since the Mary Sue was established, the concept of self-insertion or self-indulgence has been recognized as one that when used too much can hinder the enjoyment of the fic. While that idea should in turn prohibit indulgence issues such as the enormous shipping categories, instead it has come to be used a analysis weapon to criticize original characters that seem "flawless".

When really examined as a genre, it becomes more and more clear to me that like almost everything else in life, fan fiction can be positive in moderation. Too much of a good thing can and I think has hurt the canon's reception. Too much analysis in general before the series is over I think can hinder the reception in the same way.

However, one of the issues I dealt with in the original paper that didn't make it to this version is the fact that when a series, show or story has ended, that is a time when fan fiction can help to keep the fandom itself, interest, and even analysis among new fans alive. It's my hope that the interest in Harry Potter won't die away, and as long as kids are born and grow up to read I don't think it will. But in order to really keep the online fandoms going, I think re-analysis and new perspectives are necessary, and fan fic is a way to not only test new theories and possibilities but to also keep the Harry Potter characters and books alive in reader's minds.

Only time will tell if the HP series will stay popular for generations to come, such as stories like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and other children's/young adult's literature that is today considered "classic". And I think fan fiction can play a small role in ensuring that, but consideration must be made while the series is still growing for the canon.

This post has been edited by HollyLime: 07 June 2006 - 11:52 AM

[jjn91270]

Great essay, Holly!

I just finished my Masters and am looking at doing research on genre and composition theory with fan fiction being one of my strongest interests.

I'm working on a little theory (or it could be I'm just late to the party and this has been academic canon for years now): fan fiction is people taking myth-making back into their own hands.
With the advent of Hollywood, it became as if one needed authority or "credentials" to tell a story about an established commercial character. For example: it would not be unheard of for a parent to tell their child the story of Goldilocks, but the child might look at them cross-eyed for telling a story about Spider-Man.
To me, fan fiction is people realizing they are just as if not more qualified to tell a story about a character they like as those who get paid to do it, thus taking the act of myth creation back into our own hands.
Thoughts?

Jon

[HollyLime]

sorry I didn't realize someone had posted here. I normally take less than a year to respond. If the question is still valid, then yes, Jon, I agree that perhaps fan fiction is myth making, or perhaps an attempt to return to the idea of oral storytelling, only on paper. What I mean by oral storytelling is that idea of people surrounding a campfire and telling stories to entertain each other in a day and time before copywright existed to scare them away from retelling the tales of others. Indeed, that is how many of our folklore, or fairy tales, evolved until some "men" decided to write them down and put their own spin on it.

Fan fiction is a fascinating genre that I think is paradoxical almost in its "literary" existence. It's good and bad for itself.