(no subject)
What the hell is this? ):
[link]
"One of the defenses of fan fiction writing that I generally see is that it's simply another method to interrogate a text, no different than applying LitCrit theory in an analysis, writing a review, or talking about it on a forum. But it seems to be, by dint of the composition of the fan fiction writing community, to be a predominantly female approach to interrogation through ... I don't know, appropropiation and reinterpretation?
So. A community of (mostly) women forms around a (mostly) feminine way of interacting with literature. And then the forces of the status quo -- of copyright regimes (created and enforced mostly by men), of the literary establishment (also top-heavy with men), of fandom (traditionally dominated by men, at least in most genres, until the advent of the Internet allowed new communities to form) -- come in and say, "No, you shouldn't do this, because X, Y, and Z."
It's easy to read this as being a matter of male vs. female, because of this dichotomy.
And so, I wildly speculate, that's part of what's happening: fanfic communities are strongly driven by gender politics, mostly involving women not wanting to stop interrogating texts in a way that they mostly feel is mostly uniquely feminine. (All these "mostlys" are to hedge for the fact that not all fanfic writers or readers are female, nor do they all necessarily see things in gendered terms, and so on and so forth.)"
ETA: Most of my horror comes because this is the same person who, earlier today in the Aberwyn / Katherine Kerr post, said:
The claim that fanfiction "writers" are the best of fans is, quite frankly, a steaming heap of bullshit. Being a parasite doesn't make you a great fan.
They had some really vile, dismissive comments about amateur writers in general, so the larger quote up top was just.. pft.
[link]
"One of the defenses of fan fiction writing that I generally see is that it's simply another method to interrogate a text, no different than applying LitCrit theory in an analysis, writing a review, or talking about it on a forum. But it seems to be, by dint of the composition of the fan fiction writing community, to be a predominantly female approach to interrogation through ... I don't know, appropropiation and reinterpretation?
So. A community of (mostly) women forms around a (mostly) feminine way of interacting with literature. And then the forces of the status quo -- of copyright regimes (created and enforced mostly by men), of the literary establishment (also top-heavy with men), of fandom (traditionally dominated by men, at least in most genres, until the advent of the Internet allowed new communities to form) -- come in and say, "No, you shouldn't do this, because X, Y, and Z."
It's easy to read this as being a matter of male vs. female, because of this dichotomy.
And so, I wildly speculate, that's part of what's happening: fanfic communities are strongly driven by gender politics, mostly involving women not wanting to stop interrogating texts in a way that they mostly feel is mostly uniquely feminine. (All these "mostlys" are to hedge for the fact that not all fanfic writers or readers are female, nor do they all necessarily see things in gendered terms, and so on and so forth.)"
ETA: Most of my horror comes because this is the same person who, earlier today in the Aberwyn / Katherine Kerr post, said:
The claim that fanfiction "writers" are the best of fans is, quite frankly, a steaming heap of bullshit. Being a parasite doesn't make you a great fan.
They had some really vile, dismissive comments about amateur writers in general, so the larger quote up top was just.. pft.