Fanfiction

I have always had some difficulty in engaging with fan fiction. My troubles are most likely a result of the social constructs created around what we qualify as legitimate and illegitimate creative material. I often dismiss fan fiction and fan art as a fruitless endeavor and perhaps even a masturbatory one, in that these works only further entrench writers and creators within their own communities, with little chance of breaking out beyond that niche.

This is the curse of our mass-culture perception. In my narrow view of creativity, there is an important dividing line between someone on a Harry Potter fanfic page and Neil Gaiman doing a run on a Batman comic — Gaiman is paid for his work and sanctioned by the IP owners, while someone on fan fiction.net is simply writing for her own satisfaction and for the good of the community. There's nothing inherently right or wrong about either method, but we have constructed the belief that if we pay for something, and it is officially published, it is therefore more valuable than something created independently.

There is no intrinsic value to being "licensed" or "canon." Within the context of our class, it is easy to find the justifications for fan culture and the art and writing that follows. Benjamin introduced me to the idea that fan labor is not dissimilar to standard playground role play, and children inserting themselves into familiar fictional worlds. The value of fan creation comes in finding new perspectives in established universes — for example, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Triwizard Tournament reveals that there are wizarding schools around the world, making the world of Harry Potter potentially a great deal bigger than the Anglo-centric view of the first three novels. This knowledge opens up the series to expansion from fans who can find themselves better represented in Harry Potter’s world by creating their own space.

While reading a number of HP fan fictions this week, I was startled to see that some total nearly 200,000 words, a length greater than all but Order of the Phoenix. That number is staggering to me, and I wondered why the author would “waste her time” doing such a work. But that’s me coming from the wrong side of the issue. The question isn’t about the value of her time being spent, it’s about why we don’t value work done in established fictional worlds by writers. It’s apparent that exploring familiar characters and settings helps young creatives flex their muscles and learn their craft without having to stretch too far — so why do we stigmatize the same process when it comes to adults? Quality work is quality work, and the truth is that the fan fiction I read was actually pretty compelling. Reimagining the Harry Potter series through, say, Hermione’s perspective opens those books up in a way I’d only ever briefly considered, and fan fiction allows any number of possibilities for creative exploration.

(So I’m still not really sure about fan fiction, but I’m now more certain that I’m part of the problem by constantly joking about it. Then again, I avoided any Harry Potter erotica for this assignment, so maybe there are still jokes out there.)