PSA: Fanfic being used in a college class with assignment to "leave CRITICISING comments"
On an off-chance you haven't seen this on Twitter or Tumblr yet: waldorph explains the situation, which is that one of her fics is "required reading in a class being taught, and one of the assignments is to leave a comment on the required reading which is more critical than constructive so that the [instructors] know students are 'engaging' with the texts." Her post contains the link to the fic in question; the comments received as a result of this class assignment are INCREDIBLY rude, even coming across as kinda trolly.
The post contains the FULL LIST OF FICS BEING USED IN THIS CLASS; if you know anyone whose work is on the list, please let them know so they have the chance to take it down if they'd rather not be "engaged with" in this way.
Waldorph has also linked to the syllabus, and posted a few things that will hopefully lead to either changing the critical comment requirement or a big change in the way this class is run. Fingers crossed.
I am fucking FUMING about this. The power structure that separates works typically found on lit syllabi from fanfic found online is more than just the VAST difference in the economy (you have to buy professional lit; fanfic is free) or literary respectability (hell, not even fanfic in general - think about the literary standing of published-for-sale fanfiction) or academic hierarchy (lit authors don't get "engaged with" when their work is studied; fanfic authors are treated as if they willingly brought an assignment to a class discussion/evaluation, except their work is treated as anonymous, and the other students and teachers in the class rip into it as viciously as any given internet comment would). The whole class is basically the equivalent of celebs picking up fanfic to read out loud for a bit of fandom-shaming entertainment: after all, fanfic is THERE, it's ACCESSIBLE, and it's WORTHLESS by the aforementioned standards, so why not use it for whatever purposes non-fandom feels like?
I've stopped idolizing academia ages ago, and while it may be possible to study fanworks in a non-idiotic, non-abusive way, I REALLY don't believe it can be done without being at least highly respectful of fandom (though preferably a fan oneself). The class in question here is run by two students who, while claiming to be knowledgeable about fandom, clearly fail at approaching fanworks in a thoughtful, let alone professional, manner (more info here). I suspect one major issue with their (ab)use of fanworks is the attempt to create a quantifiable measure of "engagement" and in the process of making "critical" comments mandatory as a show of participation, they display a horrendous ignorance of fandom culture - which also leads to some serious biases against fanworks (again, see above) to be revealed in tone when commenting. Ughhhh, fucking BERKELEY.
ANYWAY. The format and culture of fandom - the audience's pre-existent love of canon, approach to writing (from form to characterization to tropes), community of support and constructive critique when invited by the writer, not to mention the sheer TECHNOLOGY OF OUR PLATFORMS THAT PROVIDE ACCESSIBILITY AND DIRECT INTERACTION with the works and their creators FOR FANDOM PARTICIPANTS - all these factors differentiate fanfic from published lit far too clearly to have them both be thrown into the same bucket for the purposes of ~academic study. Think of it this way: if you put a published author on a syllabus and half your classroom spends an hour pointing out problems in their work, your students won't be required to share these thoughts with the author (via... email? fanmail?!) in order to get credit for "engaging". This is not the same as leaving a review on a random site of the publisher or bookseller, btw, because fanfic is self-published and comments go to the writer directly - and, you know what, if you need an explanation of why fandom interaction is more personal than interaction with published authors, I'm not sure why you're on my blog.
Okay. Waldorph has extended an invitation online to give support and positive feedback to the other authors on the syllabus, to balance out the crap they'll get because of this. Fans are also welcome to engage with the students fulfilling their class assignment in the comments to Waldorph's fic. I'm too angry to do this right now, but the semester is (unfortunately) still young...
The post contains the FULL LIST OF FICS BEING USED IN THIS CLASS; if you know anyone whose work is on the list, please let them know so they have the chance to take it down if they'd rather not be "engaged with" in this way.
Waldorph has also linked to the syllabus, and posted a few things that will hopefully lead to either changing the critical comment requirement or a big change in the way this class is run. Fingers crossed.
I am fucking FUMING about this. The power structure that separates works typically found on lit syllabi from fanfic found online is more than just the VAST difference in the economy (you have to buy professional lit; fanfic is free) or literary respectability (hell, not even fanfic in general - think about the literary standing of published-for-sale fanfiction) or academic hierarchy (lit authors don't get "engaged with" when their work is studied; fanfic authors are treated as if they willingly brought an assignment to a class discussion/evaluation, except their work is treated as anonymous, and the other students and teachers in the class rip into it as viciously as any given internet comment would). The whole class is basically the equivalent of celebs picking up fanfic to read out loud for a bit of fandom-shaming entertainment: after all, fanfic is THERE, it's ACCESSIBLE, and it's WORTHLESS by the aforementioned standards, so why not use it for whatever purposes non-fandom feels like?
I've stopped idolizing academia ages ago, and while it may be possible to study fanworks in a non-idiotic, non-abusive way, I REALLY don't believe it can be done without being at least highly respectful of fandom (though preferably a fan oneself). The class in question here is run by two students who, while claiming to be knowledgeable about fandom, clearly fail at approaching fanworks in a thoughtful, let alone professional, manner (more info here). I suspect one major issue with their (ab)use of fanworks is the attempt to create a quantifiable measure of "engagement" and in the process of making "critical" comments mandatory as a show of participation, they display a horrendous ignorance of fandom culture - which also leads to some serious biases against fanworks (again, see above) to be revealed in tone when commenting. Ughhhh, fucking BERKELEY.
ANYWAY. The format and culture of fandom - the audience's pre-existent love of canon, approach to writing (from form to characterization to tropes), community of support and constructive critique when invited by the writer, not to mention the sheer TECHNOLOGY OF OUR PLATFORMS THAT PROVIDE ACCESSIBILITY AND DIRECT INTERACTION with the works and their creators FOR FANDOM PARTICIPANTS - all these factors differentiate fanfic from published lit far too clearly to have them both be thrown into the same bucket for the purposes of ~academic study. Think of it this way: if you put a published author on a syllabus and half your classroom spends an hour pointing out problems in their work, your students won't be required to share these thoughts with the author (via... email? fanmail?!) in order to get credit for "engaging". This is not the same as leaving a review on a random site of the publisher or bookseller, btw, because fanfic is self-published and comments go to the writer directly - and, you know what, if you need an explanation of why fandom interaction is more personal than interaction with published authors, I'm not sure why you're on my blog.
Okay. Waldorph has extended an invitation online to give support and positive feedback to the other authors on the syllabus, to balance out the crap they'll get because of this. Fans are also welcome to engage with the students fulfilling their class assignment in the comments to Waldorph's fic. I'm too angry to do this right now, but the semester is (unfortunately) still young...