Fan fiction (alternately referred to as fanfiction, fanfic, FF, or fic) is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator. Works of fan fiction are rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher; also, they are almost never professionally published. Fan fiction, therefore, is defined by being both related to its subject's canonical fictional universe and simultaneously existing outside the canon of that universe.[1] Most fan fiction writers assume that their work is read primarily by other fans, and therefore tend to presume that their readers have knowledge of the canon universe (created by a professional writer) in which their works are based.
Media scholar Henry Jenkins explains the correlation between transmedia storytelling and fan fiction:
The encyclopedic ambitions of transmedia texts often results in what might be seen as gaps or excesses in the unfolding of the story: that is, they introduce potential plots which can not be fully told or extra details which hint at more than can be revealed. Readers, thus, have a strong incentive to continue to elaborate on these story elements, working them over through their speculations, until they take on a life of their own. Fan fiction can be seen as an unauthorized expansion of these media franchises into new directions which reflect the reader's desire to "fill in the gaps" they have discovered in the commercially produced material.[2]
History
Precursors
Precursors to fan fiction include the Epic Cycle supplementing the works of Homer and the various re-tellings of King Arthur's tale which spread around Europe from the 8th century AD onward.[citation needed] (For example, there were no fewer than four continuations by other hands of Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval.)
Another precursor is in medieval Arabic fiction, where story cycles were formed as different storytellers added sequels to an original story, such as story cycles revolving around Harun al-Rashid or Sinbad the Sailor. Some tales were also parodied by other storytellers. Many of these story cycles and parodies were incorporated into the Arabian Nights. For example, "Wardan the Butcher's Adventure With the Lady and the Bear" is parodied by "The King's Daughter and the Ape", "Harun al-Rashid and the Two Slave-Girls" is parodied by "Harun al-Rashid and the Three Slave-Girls", and "The Angel of Death With the Proud King and the Devout Man" is parodied by "The Angel of Death and the Rich King". Sometimes even parodies were parodied, such as "The Angel of Death and the King of the Children of Israel" being a parody of "The Angel of Death and the Rich King".[3] When the Arabian Nights was translated into French at the beginning of the 18th century, many imitations of it were written in France.[4]
One early example may be the Uttara Kanda last chapter of the Hindu epic Ramayana; there is a theory that Valmiki's original writing ended with Rama coming home and being crowned at the end of the Yuddha Kanda chapter.
The turn of the 20th century saw parodies and revisions of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland by authors including Frances Hodgson Burnett and E. Nesbit. In addition, there were several fan-authored versions of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.
In the 1920s and 1930s, fans of Jane Austen wrote stories based on her characters and published them in fanzines.
In 1945, C. S. Lewis adopted certain elements from J. R. R. Tolkien's then largely unpublished legendarium (mostly Númenor, there spelt Numinor) and incorporated these into the last novel, That Hideous Strength, of his Space Trilogy. (As Lewis and Tolkien were personal friends, this could be seen more as an "homage").
Modern phenomenon
The Star Trek fanzine Spockanalia contained the first fan fiction in the modern sense of the term.Before about 1965, the term "fan fiction" was used in science fiction fandom to designate original, though amateur, works of science fiction published in science fiction fanzines, as differentiated from fiction that was professionally published by professional writers; or fiction about fans and fandom.
However, the modern phenomenon of fan fiction as an expression of fandom and fan interaction was popularized and defined via Star Trek fandom and their fanzines published in the 1960s. The first Star Trek fanzine, Spockanalia, was published in 1967 and contained some fan fiction.[5] These fanzines were produced via photocopying and mimeography, and mailed to other fans or sold at science fiction conventions for a small fee to help recoup costs. In 1970, Mary Ellen Curtin, a Princeton University graduate, researched the authors of various Star Trek fanfics, and her results showed an outstanding 83% female as opposed to 17% male writers; in 1973, fan writers were 90% female.[6]
Fan fiction has become more popular and widespread since the advent of the World Wide Web.[7] In addition to traditional zines and conventions, Usenet group electronic mailing lists were established for fan fiction as well as fan discussion. Online, searchable fan fiction archives were also established. The online archives were initially non-commercial hand-tended and fandom- or topic-specific. These archives were followed by non-commercial automated databases. In 1998, the not-for-profit site FanFiction.Net came online, which allowed anybody to upload content in any fandom.[8] The ability to self-publish fan fiction at an easily-accessible common archive that did not require insider-knowledge to join, and the ability to review the stories directly on the site, became popular quite quickly. FanFiction.net now hosts millions of stories in dozens of languages, and is widely considered the largest and most popular fan fiction archive online.[7]
LiveJournal (founded in 1999) and other blogging services played a large part in the move away from mailing lists (both electronic and amateur press associations) to blogs as a means for fan communication and the sharing of fan fiction. Although much fan fiction today is published to archives, it would be impossible to tell whether more or less fan fiction today is posted directly to blogging services than to fan-fiction-specific archives.
Japanese dōjinshi
A similar trend in Japan also began appearing around the 1960s and 1970s, where independently published manga and novels, known as dōjinshi, are frequently published by dōjin circles; many of these dōjinshi are based on existing manga, anime, and video game franchises. Manga authors like Shotaro Ishinomori and Fujiko Fujio formed dōjin groups such as Fujio's New Manga Party (新漫画党, Shin Manga-to?). At this time dōjin groups were used by artists to make a professional debut. This changed in the coming decades with dōjin groups forming as school clubs and the like. This culminated in 1975 with the Comiket in Tokyo.
Categories and types
Fan fiction can be categorized in a number of ways. Some of these categories are similar to original fiction, some are specialized. Please note: these categories apply to western fandoms. International fandoms have different conventions.
For common terminology relating to fan fiction, including some specialized subgenre terms, see the sub-article Fan fiction terminology.
Relationship to canon
Stories are also categorized by their relationship to canon. The most common term is alternate universe which is frequently abbreviated AU. There are two main sub-categories of alternate universe fan fiction; stories that exist in the same "world" as canon, but change one or more major plot points (e.g. a character dies who is still alive in the source material or some event in the characters' lives is altered) and stories that take some or all characters from the source material and put them in an entirely different situation (e.g. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are pop stars, rather than students at a school for wizards).
There are several categories of "canon" stories as well, that is, stories that do not contradict the source material in any way. Missing scenes[9] fill in parts of the story that were "left out" of the source. Episode Codas (a term that applies only to fan fiction based on TV shows) are stories that pick up at the end of an episode. These are usually written shortly after an episode airs, when viewers are left wanting more. Other categories, like pre-[10] and post-series refer to stories that depict events taking place outside the chronological scope of the source material. Futurefic[11] refers to any story that takes place after the currently available canon.
Romantic or sexual pairings
There are four main categories that refer to the romantic or sexual story elements. Slash, Heterosexual, Femslash, and General. In almost all fandoms (Star Trek being the only known exception) slash refers to same-sex male pairings. The term originates from the slash between the names of the characters in a relationship (e.g. Kirk/Spock). Although all pairings are denoted with a slash, only same-sex pairings are referred to by that term. Femslash (or, sometimes, femme slash) refers to same-sex female pairings. Het, an abbreviation for "heterosexual," refers to opposite sex pairings. Gen is an abbreviation for "general" and refers to stories which do not contain a romantic or sexual plot.
Genres and tropes
Fan fiction stories can be written in any genre, just like literature. There are some specialized genre categories that only apply to fan fiction or, at least, the terminology is specific. Crack, Angst, and WAFF/fluff/schmoop are well-known examples.
Certain tropes are also used and reused in fan fiction. There are so many of these that it would be impossible to name them all, and they vary greatly from fandom to fandom. High school and College AUs are common in many fandoms that do not already take place in school settings. Hurt-Comfort is also broadly popular.
Kinks
The term kink has a somewhat different connotation in reference to fan fiction than it does in mainstream culture. Sexual tropes or situations are often referred to as kinks whether or not they are particularly "adventurous." Sometimes the term is even more broadly applied to describe plots or tropes that people enjoy, regardless of whether or not they are sexual in nature.[12]
Crossovers
Crossovers are stories that incorporate two or more different sources. For example, an author may take a character from Canon A and place him or her in the universe of Canon B, or characters from two or more fandoms may meet at a neutral location. These stories often include romantic or sexual pairings between characters from different canons.
Length
Categorization by story length varies greatly among fandoms and among individuals. It is a common practice in many fandoms to list word count in the header information, especially on LiveJournal. Fanfiction.net and other archives may have their own specialized rules. Terminology for story length also varies. Some commonly used terms are drabble (either a story of exactly 100 words or a very short story) and ficlet[13] (longer than a drabble, but still very short). Longer stories may be called longfic, epic, or novel-length, but these are typically not labels that would be applied by the author.
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Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:41:18 GMT+00:00
, poem for 'Harry Potter' character Ron Weasley Hollywoodnews.com ... with a little known fact about herself on Twitter, confessing, I've been writing Harry Potter fan fiction under a pseudonym for quite a while now. ... Peaches Geldof's secret love of Harry Potter character Ron Findtut
