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🌰 Source: The Paratext of Fan Fiction Author(s): Maria Lindgren Leavenworth Source: Narrative, JANUARY 2015, Vol. 23, No. 1 (JANUARY 2015), pp. 40-60 Published by: Ohio State University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24615501

Notes

“The present article continues these discussions by close-reading one fan fiction story, using analytical tools traditionally applied to printed works, both past and present. Fan fictions, or fanfics are online-published, most often pseudonomously authored stories which take a pre-existing fiction, a canon in fanfic vernacular, as a starting point” (Leavenworth, 2015: 40)

“Although any canon can spark fan interest, the fictional world commonly belongs to the genres of science fiction or fantasy. The subversion of human norms at play within these genres, along with already fluctuating boundaries between what is possible and what is not, arguably contributes to the heightened fan activity, of which fan fiction is one expression” (Leavenworth, 2015: 40–41)

“Rather than analyzing the progression of the story, the potentially productive departure from the canon, and the intertextual relationships it bears to other fictions, I focus on paratextual features such as filing options, tags, Author NOtes (A/Ns), and an epitextual conversation between CavalierQueen and her readers” (Leavenworth, 2015: 41)

“The choice of publication venue, filing options at the selected site, and a host of more or less descriptive labels attached to the work thus signal what type of text form we are concerned with and what genre(s) it belongs to: preliminary indications for how it is to be approached and giving visitors to the sites options to either pursue reading the fanfic, or turn elsewhere” (Leavenworth, 2015: 42)

"Extratextual material in the form of epitexts, and specifically the dialogic relation between fan author and fan reader, emphasize the collaborative nature of specific forms of online creativity, and gesture to a collapse between public and private which is integral to communal writing, belied by the supposedly anonymous digital environment” (Leavenworth, 2015: 42)

“Each fanfic is thus doubly situated: in relation to its canon but also in relation to other fans’ interpretations, that is, other hypertexts” (Leavenworth, 2015: 42)

“The canon as overt precursor both demands and allows particular forms of individual and collective empowerment as fanfic authors wrestle control away from canon authors.” (Leavenworth, 2015: 43)

“Lines of interpretation expressed by individual fans and emerging in the collective fandom (the group of fans coming together around a text) sometimes differ widely from the implied interpretive path in the canon, and each fanfic initiates an imagined dialogue with its precursor” (Leavenworth, 2015: 43)

“Although fans can be drawn to any number of features in the hypotext, interest in character and in specific pairings emerges as paramount” (Leavenworth, 2015: 43)

“The fan author may thus be drawn to an exploration of an array of themes, or engage with the canon to subvert or corroborate its messages, but characters are the predominant starting points since they constitute sites of a productive difference from the fan’s own situatedness or offer possibilities for identification” (Leavenworth, 2015: 43–4)

“Although depicting a considerably different turn of events, many details in the fanfic are clearly recognizable but there is a continuous mix-and-match process which allows the author to draw from both written and visual instantiations of the narrative” (Leavenworth, 2015: 45)

“Despite this seemingly strong link with the paradigm of print literature, the structure of online archives plays a decisive part in how the texts are approached. The archives are not definitive delivery devices, as a visitor has a number of options regarding downloads, but a narratological analysis of their structure illustrates how important adjustments to the definition of the paratext need to be made to account for how the readers of fan fiction are guided towards a story” (Leavenworth, 2015: 45)

“AO3 allows authors and artists to upload fanfics, podcasts, and fan-created videos connected to a vast number of fandoms. The non-profit and fan-founded site, connected to the Organziation for Transformative Works, was launched in 2009 and provides a space for formally diverse stories of all age ratings” (Leavenworth, 2015: 46)**

"Alexandra Herzog, who foregrounds three, often combined, authorial aspects, arguing that A/Ns are used by authors 'to engage in communal writing, declare the original author dead, or resurrect the author in attributing themselves with an authorial grab for authority'" (Leavenworth, 2015: 50)

On the topic of the importance of A/Ns, endnotes, etc, such as promising to write more upon request, "to an extent, exhortations and promises of this kind are expected within the fanfic discourse, where the constant feedback of an active readership constitutes one reason for writing at all. However, they also subtly but actively undermine the notion of the single author working in solitude and with complete authority over the text, as readers get the opportunity not only to signal their appreciation or hesitancy, but to influence the pace of publication and indicate their preference for particular kinds of plot and character developments" (Leavenworth, 2015: 50)

"The text is not finished, and readers reacting negatively to some aspects may be rewarded by alterations in the next chapter. If information seems to be missing, CavalierQueen can add it, and if there is any indication that interpretations move in other directions than the one she intends, she protects herself from criticism by forcefully demonstrating precisely how her appropriation is to be received" (Leavenworth, 2015: 52)

"The epitextual conversation between CavalierQueen and her readers also includes exchanges of a more emotional nature indicative of a move from public to private, and an important step is taken when the author leaves the pseudonymous persona behind" (Leavenworth, 2015: 55)