Origins of Fanfic

[Michela Ecks]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Rosmerta" <tmayor at m...> wrote:
> ::looking around a little shyly; this is my first OT foray:: 
> 
> Any one of the apparently many for/against fanfic people willing to 
> offer up a definitive (or failing that, speculative) but apolitical 
> precie on the origins of fanfic? 

Henry Jenkins, a scholar of fan fiction and fan culture, I think 
traced it back the first stories being derived from the works of Lois 
Carol.  Another couple of sources I am aware of pin point the events 
as wel the first fan fiction being derived from works derived from 
Sherlock Holmes.  Mainstream, the term being used very loosely here 
since I don't think fan fiction will ever be exactly main stream, 
fans claim it originates from Star Trek which popularized fan fiction 
as a genre.  http://writersu.s5.com/history/ has more information.

There is some speculation that anything can be fan fiction.  In fact, 
I've heard claims that the Bible is a form of early fan fiction as 
are Roman myths which are clearly derived from Greek myths.

My own personal belief is that fan fiction is not authorized thus you 
can't have any unauthorized works, which most fan fiction is 
(unauthorized), till you have something that gives authorization.  
That would be when copyright laws first started to appear :o)

>I'm just assuming it's a Net-driven 
> phenomenon (or message-board driven, for those who remember pre-
> Internet PC communication) but perhaps not? 

Nope, not at all.  It started as a means of sharing and having a 
community.  Early fan fiction writers did print zines and passed 
around hand written or typed stories at conventions and other fan 
gatherings.


> Also, a couple of months ago someone posted a message with a sig 
that 
> quoted from some apparently scholarly tome commenting on the 
validity 
> of fanfic as a response to art, or some such sentiments. Anybody 
want 
> to own up to that or remember the book? 

Henry Jenkins?  There has been of late a lot of scholarly text coming 
out about fan fiction as it is becoming more acceptable and research 
on the topic is branching away from old mainstays such as an analysis 
of Trek culture.  I can think of four people writing scholarly stuff 
on-line at this time about fan fiction.  (My own papers excluded 
because I'm not aiming for publishing just academic interest.)
 
> ~Rosmerta, who's morbidly curious about a genre she'd never even 
> heard of till six weeks ago.

:o) It's a long and torturous road.  My family has been dealing with 
it for about 8 years now...

Michela Ecks - Spastic Hale Girl - :o)
http://writersu.s5.com/ micecks on aim