[HPFGU-OTChatter] Raison d'Fanfic

Fri Apr 20 14:21:29 UTC 2001

I admit it! I love derivative stories! I love reading novels, serieses and
short stories that incorporate other literary works into them. It probably
goes back to reading Little Women and its mentions of the girls acting out
Pillgrim's Progress, or the references to Tennyson in Laura Ingalls Wilder's
books, or even all the bits from Shakespeare, Frances Hodgeson Burnett and
Lewis Carroll in Noel Straetfield's "Shoes" books.
I also love historical novels - and is a book like The Queen's Bastard (
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068485760X/qid=987776359/sr=1-1/ref=s
c_b_2/107-9640729-8082916
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068485760X/qid=987776359/sr=1-1/ref=
sc_b_2/107-9640729-8082916> ) or movies like Lady Jane or Braveheart
anything other than fanfics of historical situations, rather than fanfics of
books?

But obviously, fanfic is something more, or something different, or
something less, than all of these referential books, depending on how you
look at it.
Last August, when I read online-fanfiction for the first time (and I've
never read any online-fanfiction for anything other than Harry Potter) I
discovered it as another way to appreciate and enjoy JKR's stories and
universe. Of course, JKR controls, she rules, she reigns

I can think of a few examples of published books which either are, or
contain an element of, fanfiction:

Rebecca was speaking of Jane Austen fanfic (with a side-note that I'm
actually writing a fanfic which puts the HP characters into Pride &
Prejudice - it's called Homage, and it's at
http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=story-read
<http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=story-read&storyid=209007>
&storyid=209007) -there's a new book out called Pride & Promiscuiuty - the
lost sex scenes of Jane Austen - the book is even lemon-coloured! It's
written by a prizewinning playwright (no, I don't know what prizes...) and a
literary agent/writer, although of course it *professes* to be written by
Austen herself & they've done a clever job of creating a history for the
discovery.

A professor of mine from college wrote a book called FOOLSCAP which could be
called fanfic for shakespeare - it's a complicated plot, but it centers on a
historical fantasy about Sir Walter Raleigh's attempt to write a play about
himself just before his execution (it's out of print but you can find it at
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/exchange-glance/Y04Y0001295Y7255487/qid=
987775761/sr=1-1/ref=aps_sr_z_1_1/107-9640729-8082916
<http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/exchange-glance/Y04Y0001295Y7255487/qid
=987775761/sr=1-1/ref=aps_sr_z_1_1/107-9640729-8082916> )

West Side Story is, to some extent, a fanfic of Romeo & Juliet, and
Forebidden Planet is a fanfic of The Tempest. 

Neil Gaiman, the creator of the Sandman universe, the Book of Magic,
Neverwhere and other wonderfully fantastic universes, had, as his first
published book, a bio of Douglas Adams & the Hitch-Hiker's Guide series,
which isn't exactly fanfic, but, well, I just wanted to mention it...

I can't see it as theft or plagiarism, although of course it's copyright
infringement, somewhat the same way that a college a cappella group
reinterpriting a pop song without an ASCAP license is copyright
infringement. But the reason I read it, and write it, is to see situations
that I don't expect to happen in canon. I am happily waiting for Book 5, but
until then, if I want to see *a version* of Harry & Hermione 10 years after
graduation, or explore what might happen if Draco and Harry took polyjuice
potion or go back to the days of MWPP or forward to the children of
Harry&Hermi, Ron&Lavender and Draco&Ginny, I'll read fanfic. But I will
never disregard anything JKR says *just because* it's in fanfic. 
However, if she keeps saying that there are 1000 students at hogwarts......

I dare say that the more imaginative genres attract the more imaginative
fans, which is why SF and Fantasy have so much fanfic written about them,
mysteries and westerns have less (except for the enormous flood of Sherlock
Holmes fanfiction), and mainstream fiction hardly any at all.  (But there
are notable exceptions to that rule.  Look at all the Jane Austen fanfic,
for instance.)
--
Rebecca J. Bohner
rebeccaj at pobox.com
http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj <http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj> 

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