Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World

4.5"Writing and reading fanfiction isn't just something you do; it's a way of thinking critically about the media you consume, of being aware of all the implicit assumptions that a canonical work carries with it, and of considering the possibility that those assumptions might not be the only way things have to be."The above was from Lev Grossman's introduction but was only one of dozens of passages I highlighted in Fic: Why Fanfiction is Taking Over the World. I found just about everything in this book fascinating. I am an academic by training--my specialty was/is 18th and 19th English fiction--and I was pretty skeptical going in, but I thought Anne Jamison did a great job, much better than you usually find, of melding an academic and a generalist perspective and style. The inclusion of contributors' essays was especially beneficial and I thought very much in the collaborative spirit of fandom itself.There was a certain inevitable disappointment that my particular fandom--Teen Wolf--was barely mentioned, but I thought the author had good reasons for focusing on the fandoms she did--e.g. Sherlock Holmes, Buffy, Star Trek, Harry Potter, and Twilight.I actually found the Twilight material especially interesting and helpful for several reasons. It matters that that fandom is the one Jamison was personally involved with. I have no interest in reading a book on fanfiction written by anyone who has not been involved--obsessively involved--in a fandom. This is one instance where "outside" or "objective" perspectives are useless, and neutrality constitutes an irreparable bias.I also have had a tendency to look down on Twilight and its fanfiction, especially in comparison to Sherlock or Harry Potter or Buffy, so the section was a bracing reminder of why that attitude is deeply problematic. Part of what makes fanfiction so fascinating as a cultural and academic topic is the way it brings together issues of technology, literary prestige, cultural capital, access to publishing, class and educational status, and most of all gender. Coincidentally, these are also key issues in the "rise of the novel." Basically, my tendency to make snobbish distinctions between fandoms replicates attitudes that marginalize and degrade fanfiction and traditionally female cultural forms. So, pretty obviously, if I am willing to argue at length for the vitality and brilliance of the Teen Wolf fandom (absolutely!), I damn well better pay the same respect to the Twilight or the One Direction fandoms, especially when I haven't read anything in them. (For that reason I found the brilliant essay by V. Arrow on RPF (real person fiction) and One Direction to be the best chapter in the entire book.)Still there are some key ways that the Twilight fandom feels distinct: to a noticeable degree, Twilight fans tended to be new to fandom and/or uninterested in wider fan culture. Other factors set it apart from traditional "geek" or sci-fi fandoms, such as the dominant role of "Big Name Authors," the sheer size of it with popular fics tallying hits in the millions, the relentlessly heterosexual focus and complete lack of slash, the role and culture of its specific sites, and most notoriously the move to traditional publishing. Of course it is the last, epitomized by the record-breaking sales of Fifty Shades of Grey, that justifies Jamison's emphasis on Twilight and gives some basis to her subtitle, "Why fanfiction is taking over the world." It is telling that most of the major fanfic publishing deals have been with p2ps from this fandom. Given the overall importance of Fifty Shades of Grey and the failure of "respectable" mainstream critics to deal with it, which is directly tied up in problems of gender and literary prestige, I was grateful for the context Jamison's book provided, including the debates and flame wars that surrounded the decision to transform "Master of the Universe" into Fifty Shades of Grey, its effect (mostly destructive) on the wider Twilight fandom, the legal and literary issues involved, and the mind-boggling financial stakes.There is a lot more that I could say, but I'll close by reiterating that this book does not and could not cover everything; I suspect that most readers who are also fans will have pretty serious issues with what has been excluded. My own personal peeve was the lack of in-depth discussion of slash itself, which was exacerbated by Jamison's emphasis on specific fandoms that are generally het-dominated--ie Buffy, X-Files, and Twilight. There were perfectly good reasons to focus on those fandoms, but I did feel that the otherwise excellent discussions of heavily slash fandoms like Star Trek and Sherlock seriously shortchanged this aspect. Admittedly, my own experience of fandom is 100% slash, but I also feel like it's an issue that is poorly understood for all its enormous influence on a number of major fandoms. Certainly, I have yet to read a truly satisfying critical discussion of it and I would really have liked an essay as insightful and informative about slash as the one on RPF. Still, the topics the book did cover were influential enough to be justified, and the discussions themselves were challenging and informative.Bottom line: Fascinating and informative.

This is a book that will be revisited often. It taps into the various levels of criticism around fanfiction, looking at the genre from inside, outside and through. The contributors bring multiple perspectives to discussions of not only genre and boundary crossing, but plagiarism, cultural appropriation, transmedia storytelling, fandom, genre policing and transformative works. Each essay and interview layers up a rich cultural history and commentary that not only demonstrates academic rigour but allows for participatory voices; an acknowledgment of first hand, insider knowledge without the self-congratulatory naval-gazing or tokenism that both criticism and ethnography can have. More importantly, it documents a particular set of histories and developments that are not only unique story lines of the fanfiction genre but also those which cross genres and even art forms. I recommend this at an academic level but even more, to those like me, who stumbled into fanfiction late and accidentally, having before or since encountered the furore about Ms James and Fifty Shades of Grey ( should she or shouldn't she have) and the emergence of a strong pull-to-publish/publisher-poaching-ground trend (that we know is nothing new but still considered bad form), this volume will give you a more balanced understanding of the discussions than you might otherwise encounter from social media and fanfic or literary forums.

In an anthology like this, you're always going to get a mixed bag. I *loved* the essay about being fannish in non-Western countries, for example, but the section about Twilight was less interesting. Jamison was never going to be able to make everyone happy, of course, but I wish she had made more mention of smaller fandoms.The tone of the book kept shifting, too: was it trying to explain fandom to outsiders? trying to celebrate it with insiders? studying it from a sociological perspective? I could never tell. Non-fannish people would probably be completely lost by page 2, fannish people would already know about 75% of the information in the book, and most of it is too informal to constitute a serious scientific study.But it's good to see fandom and the fannish experience getting attention from mainstream publishing. More like this, please!

Fascinating look at fanfiction. Covers the development of fanfiction and looks at some seminal fandoms that had a transformative effect: Sherlock Holmes (in all its variations), Star Trek, X-Files, Buffy, Harry Potter and Twilight. Includes a number of interviews/essays with or by fan writers. Also discusses some of the controversies and darker sides of fandom. Jamison's writing is very accessible and readable even though her academic roots are evident. Recommended for anyone who is interested in fandom and fanfiction.

Would recommend it if you are interested in the research of Fanfiction.It is an interesting read, good value, a lot of book for the price.

I fell in love with this book upon reading the title and this impression only intensified as I read it. I have cited this book in every essay I have written on fandom-related aspects in the past two years, and I still like to re-read certain chapters, simply because Jamison writes in a manner that is very pleasurable and educational at the same time. Wonderful book, filled with lots of fangirling, and great interviews with interesting BNFs.

If you're interested in fanfiction beyond reading (or writing) it yourself, this is quite a good look at backgrounds, the culture and some of the past and present movers and shakers within several of the most popular fandoms. From the original Sherlock Holmes to Twilight, from fanzines to LiveJournal, there's something for everybody. Even a few titles. :-)

This is a really good introduction to the world of fanfiction. The arguments put forward to defend and indeed promote the writing of fanfic are impressive. The fandoms drawn on to illustrate various aspects are not mine but their histories have universal implications and the events resonate with anyone involved in fanfiction. Although Jamison is an academic and takes a scholarly approach her writing and research are accessible to the ordinary reader and her choice of interviewees is excellent. A great contribution to the field.