What is Fanfiction?

[jimhines]

This is partly a follow-up to my MZB vs. Fanfiction post from last week, and partly a response to a much-linked post at http://bookshop.livejournal.com/1044495.html which answers author criticism of fanfiction by saying, “You’ve just summarily dismissed as criminal, immoral, and unimaginative each of the following Pulitzer Prize-winning works…”

Comments

[elucreh]

I do think some of the works above count as fanfiction in its broadest sense; I have used Wicked as an example of fanfiction when trying to explain it to a class, for instance. I think they count as fanfiction within the scope of what authors are generally attacking when they make outraged moralistic posts on the subject: i. e., transformative stories based on a single creator or group of creators' works.

I personally don't have a problem with authors who say that they worked hard on their characters and have the right to profit from them and to "own" them; I think it's a little silly to object to fic on those grounds, because I know thousands of people who have been converted to (and subsequently purchased) books, television, etc. through fandom, but if your stance is "I made these toys and I don't want you to play with them" I am enough of a preschool teacher to say, "Well, they're yours; nobody should have the right to take them if you don't want to share."

However, when it turns into "it is wrong to play with anybody's toys," I think that statement implies including the toys of people who sell the rights to their toys, people whose toys have been given either by them or by the law to the entire classroom, and people who have said, "I'm glad you like my toys! Have as much fun as you like!"

[crazywritergirl]

I like the toy analogy!

[jimhines]

Me too! I'm going to have to poke at it a bit to see how well it holds up, but I like it.

[elucreh]

I should clarify: I mean this strictly in terms of the outraged moralistic stance on the existence of fanfiction/derivative work. I do think that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, etc., fall under the umbrella in that sense. The writing-it, reading-it, valid-as-art sense.

However, in the selling-it sense, I agree that legally, morally, ethically, grammatically, etc. West Side Story is very different from, say, Written by the Victors.