Entering the Realm of Fanfiction:

1. Clarifying Fandoms – Based on some research, I believe that I can further clarify the online definition of a fandom. What does not fall under this category can be considered a smaller offshoot of fandoms, perhaps an online community that rallies around a particular theme or idea, but not actually a fandom since it does not operate within a sufficiently large scale. A fandom today, is a community with a major online presence that both consumes and produces media surrounding a particular book, tv show, or another theme. The content that fandoms create is not limited to a single media or genre. Fandoms also typically gather to discuss the fandom through events such as conventions: Harry Potter Conventions, Comic-Con etc.

The act of ‘being fannish’ is not specifically limited to fandoms, it can also be used for other online hits such as memes, viral videos etc. This typically involves individuals becoming obsessed with a particular subject and then producing content/other media that revolves around said subject.

In this post, I will discuss one of the major fandoms of the modern age: Harry Potter.

2. Harry Potter meet FanFiction.net – the first major fandom (of this new generation) that takes advantage of online resources is the cultural phenomenon surrounding the Harry Potter series. The Harry Potter series was positioned at the correct time in history to become a modern day fandom that utilizes multimedia tools to media creation purposes.

Although fanfiction has existed throughout the presence of older fandoms (such as the dawn of Star Trek) it came into prominence as a major fandom tools with the advent of fanfiction.net (the worlds major fanfiction forum). Before 1965, the term “fan fiction” was used in science fiction fandom to designate original though amateur works of science fiction [1]. However, the modern phenomenon of fanfiction as an expression of fandom and fan interaction was popularized and defined via Star Trek fanzines published in the 60s. Works of fanfiction are rarely commissioned or authorized by the author, creator, owner, or publisher of the initial work and are almost never professionally published. The community of individuals in a fandom is sufficiently energized by the setting or characters in the initial work that the creation and consumption of fanfiction has a compounding symbiotic relationship such that the fanfiction community has long surpassed the critical mass point.

The first StarTrek fanzine, Spockanalia (1967), contained some fan fiction; many others soon followed its example [1].

However, the fanzines cannot sufficiently allow the population of fanfiction communities to grow since they restrict the amount of fanfiction published within its pages. Fanfiction has become more popular and widespread with the advent of the world wide web, and comprised of nearly a third of all books on the web[2]. Unlike other aspects of fandoms, fanfiction authors and consumers are largely comprised of a female audience who expand the boundaries of official fictional narratives offered in writing, on television or the large screen[3]. Why do you believe the fanfiction demographic is largely comprised of women? In 1998 the non-profit website Fanfiction.net came online which allows any individual to upload content in any fandom. The ability to publish fanfiction in an easily accessible common-archive has quickly popularized the art of fanfiction writing[4]. Fanfiction.net now hosts millions of stories in dozens of languages across numerous fandoms, making it the largest fanfiction site online. Its indiscriminate policy of accepting any and all submissions has led to its being fondly yet derogatively nicknamed “The Pit of Voles.” Blogging sites have also played an influential role in the move away from mailing lists to blogs as a means for fan communication and fanfiction sharing. There is no means to tell if archives or blogging sites contain more original fanfiction postings since authors liberally cross-post and maintain fanfiction on multiple sites. The Harry Potter fandom has the largest online presence with over 78,000 fanfiction stories written.

Another unifying characteristic of most fandoms is the element of a ‘ship.’ As demonstrated in the creamsicle meme, a ship is typically a romantic Fanfiction spans numerous genres or tropes, although a significant portion of fanfiction stories contains either a casual mention of a ship or a ship that is integral to the major plotline of the story. Common ships within the harry potter fandom include: Harry/Ginny, Harry/Draco, Harry/Hermione, Ron/Hermione, James/Lily, Scorpius/Rose, etc. Through fanfiction these romantic/sexual pairings have been categorized into four broad terms: heterosexual, slash, femslash, and general. The term slash originates from the slash between characters pairs and typically refers to male-to-male sexual pairings.

These ships spans Harry Potter ‘generations’ and ‘worlds.’ Generations refers to generations of characters within the realm and worlds are subfandoms that take content from the books, movies, Pottermore, etc. The story’s relationship to canon is also considered – this includes how the story has modified the characters as set up in canon. The most common term here is AU which stands for alternate universe and is frequently used due to the freedom offered by modifying certain aspects of canon. However others refers to the specific ways in which the fanfiction is modified such as Dark!Harry, in which Harry’s evil characteristics are predominant throughout the story [5]. The fandom has also generated numerous websites and the sustained interest of members in the fandom community supported the launch of Pottermore. Harry Potter fans routinely hold conventions and other Q&A events both in-person and online with actors from the movies, publishers, or JK Rowling, herself. Tumblr has probably now become fandom ‘central’ where users can engage with the fandom and with other fans with ease. This is also probably due to the main demographic of Tumblr – teenage girls, who seem to be a prominent demographic in fandom communities (particularly those with huge fanfiction presences).

Fandoms have also spawned the opposite “hatedoms.” Typically, for example, members of the Harry Potter fandom hate the Twilight fandom. Thus although a separate Twilight fandom exists, a Twilight hatedom has also been spawned, where amateur works ridiculing the series have been produced. The Harry Potter fandom is unique in that content surrounding the series has moved away from amateur online posting and to professional publishing for items such as Lexicons, Encyclopedia’s etc. The 50 Shades of Grey trilogy initially started out as a fanfiction for the Twilight series entitled Master of the Universe. The internet has also allowed for instantaneous feedback to be provided to users through a reviewing or message board system. Often the encouraging presence of online reviews spurs writers to continue authoring their fanfiction, since it is definitely a laborious processes that for experienced fanfic writers and in general all individuals in fanfic circles involves multiple iterations and the use of a beta reader [6].

3. In light of the recent Thanksgiving holiday – I thought I would share with you a recent viral video borne from the same studio as the ‘infamous’ Friday by Rebecca Black

Although these viral videos may be more in the category of hatedom than fandom (though they truly aren’t either), it is interesting to note that individuals who participate in the hatedom are actually responsible for the video’s rise to popularity. What makes a piece of media ‘interesting’ enough to spawn discussion? (whether it be fannish activity or hateful repartees).

[1] Verba, Joan Marie (2003). Boldly Writing: A Trekker Fan & Zine History, 1967-1987.

[2] Boog, Jason (2008-09-18). “Brokeback 33 Percent”.

[3] Coppa, Francesca (2006). “A Brief History of Media Fandom”.

[4] Bacon-Smith, Camille (2000). Science Fiction Culture.

[5] “Fanlore.org”. Fanlore.org.

[6] “Fanfiction.net Beta Writers”. Fanfiction.net.