Chris Williams Responds to Our Questions about FanLib

[slashpine]

First, I hafta just add my voice to those saying: What's this we, white man? "Chris Williams Responds to OUR Questions" ... well, yes, but first he avoided responding (civilly; he did real well at the other) to fans politely inviting dialog with the FanLib exec who's all about fandom. It's MIT's Henry Jenkins who CW was willing to talk to,

Comments

[vysila]

Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed and appreciated your intelligent and reasoned comments in Jenkins' blog.

[slashpine]

Thanks! The best thing FanLib has offered so far is the nice opportunity to sharpen the knives the discussion. The issues raised are really far more important than FanLib itself.

[carmarthen]

Many of the LJ community who tried to dialogue with him have equally strong credibility and integrity in the fan culture and academia (or law, publishing, other professions, etc.) and may claim more active "citizenship" in fandom, as measured by ... well, their activity in it, as opposed to actively talking at it, or about it.

The problem, for Williams, is probably that you don't connect your real professional name with your fannish activities. With very good reason--fanfiction is a stigmatized hobby. Jenkins is in fandom, yes, but it's more okay to study the weirdos than to BE a weirdo.

WE can judge fan's academic credentials by their writing rather than by the name they attach to it. Williams can't.

[slashpine]

Yes, isn't that interesting? We don't have a whole lot of trouble within LJ fandom, for instance, establishing whether someone has "credibility and integrity" or not.

Okay, there are some celebrated exceptions like Cassie Claire. But I'd so those are the exceptions that (a) prove the rule, and (b) strengthen the rules.

In one of the academic LJ comms I'm in, the group is pretty ruthless in weeding out poseurs and idiots and trolls. They get their chance. And on the basis of their writing and interaction with others, they are evaluated. Really, it's quite similar to how a teacher grades a college student's work ... so I'm not quite sure why Chris Williams found it so hard to figure out.

Although, it takes some time and willingness to do that, just as it would take an anthropologist or any traveler some time to "get the feel of" a foreign community.

I can't think what else might have prevented Williams judging fan credentials, but there's probably more.

[freifraufischer]

I can't think what else might have prevented Williams judging fan credentials, but there's probably more.

You know I've been puzziling out how a friend of mine described Fanlib recently as European colonialists who land in India (or anywhere else) and are shocked when the people aren't the least bit interested in being civilized. I think I'd take it to the next step... fandom has been approached by someone who I suspect believes he is one of us, or at the very least sympathetic to us, and he is inviting us into a place he believes will help us. I am not questioning the sincerity of those beliefs.

The founder of the Carlyle Indian School thought he was doing Native Americans a service too. Funny what a hundred years will do to interpretations.

CW has failed at a fundamental element of anthropology. He has refused to be a participant before he presumed himself a savior.

[slashpine]

Ha! Perfectly put.

He's taking on the "white man's burden" of bringing those wild women into the civilized economy. Yeah. And as another poster said, he thinks fandom will happily hand him fanfic for a bunch of worthless beads.

Or, I guess, it is T-shirts he's offering ::snort::

[slashpine]

Oooh, thank you! For the friending and the compliments. I think I may have seen some of your posts in metafandom or linked discussions. I am definitely into the thinky end of things.

I would love to hear more about your course! I've taught online and love its advantages, though I wish I had more techno-savvy. I'm over in environmental studies, however (but with quite a lot of humanities, including film). I find media & comm studies perhaps even more stimulating to my research than lit crit, perhaps because they tackle the immediate culture and society that environmental issues play out in.

I am looking forward to your promised comments!

[valarltd]

Thank you. I have the comment either immediately before or after yours, and after your analysis, I felt like a complete dunce. All I could come up with was "No profit from fanfic" and "stay off the radar."

Your analysis is brilliantm and covers all the points.

[slashpine]

Are you kidding? That's so funny, b/c actually, I know *exactly* the comment, without even looking: it was yours that inspired me to post! I only wish I could be as pithy and funny as you are. (I would like to blame academia for making me a rambling nerdy writer but my mother says it's just me :-)

Thanks for commenting!

[valarltd]

LOL. I know what you mean about academia. That would be why I quit with a BA. And moms are the toughest. Mine hates watching movies with me because I pick them apart.

I wanted to say something smart about good talent not needing the hand-up from them. There are enough of us within fandom who are professional writers (yeah, after only 2 novels and 11 short stories, I call myself a pro) that we can point those who want to go pro to the publishing houses--female owned and operated in many cases--that will fit their stuff.

But a lot of people are very happy writing fanfic. And that's fine too.

[slashpine]

Wow! 2 novels and all those stories? I'm going to be relieved if I can just finish the damn dissertation, and it is *so* not going to be fun reading.

But seriously, one of the things I was thinking after reading more on Henry Jenkins's blog, and kbrusse's (which is on some blog thingy... oh: http://kbusse.wordpress.com), there is this huge problem that either women fanfic writers (and vidders) aren't welcomed into "the market," or aren't moving themselves toward it (as cupidsbow discussed at http://cupidsbow.livejournal.com/239587.html?format=light... )

[unlikely2]

The reluctance to directly engage with the very sophisticated "natives" of this culture on their own turf betrays a lack of understanding, at best;'

Do the FanLib merchant adventurer's actually want to understand us?

We occupy a niche they'd like to exploit. If the copyright holders do go for 'slash and burn', won't FanLib, unlike the writers, be sued as a limited company?

Lacking the same degree of personal exposure, does really matter if they lose some money initially if it means being seen as the 'experts' on fanfiction. Persuading the copyright owners to exploit the cleared niche in a preferred manner with themselves as agents would be a license to print money.

[elfwreck]

I think (and this may turn into an essay/rant of its own) FanLib is/was working from two premises:

1) "Fanfic writers" are mostly like the people who respond to fanficcish writing contests. "Describe Spiderman and MJ's wedding in 100 words or less; submissions will be judged on style, originality and content; Grand Prize: trip for 4 to Universal Studios; 10 1st prizes: complete Spiderman trilogy DVDs; 50 2nd prizes: T-shirt." They somehow got the idea that those bazillions of ff.net stories are written by people who want to be writing for those contests--but maybe they can't find the contests, or their writing isn't good enough yet, or their writing style doesn't condense to 100 words, or whatver

[slashpine]

I want to read one or both of these

[elfwreck]

I never mind being friended (if I don't want people to see something, I lock it). I friended you so you can see my slashy stuff. (Which there is no great amount of, but it's all locked.

I wasn't even directly referring to the people who dress up at cons (that's a whole other issue)--was talking about the funny online names and odd blog styles that FanLib and other corporate types are likely to dismiss as "unprofessional; don't need to pay attention to this one." Taking a "fannish" online name and putting pics of your OTP on your blog, and instead of having it say "Comment Here" and "3 Comments Received," saying "Drink the Potion" and "3 Draughts," is a form of "dressing up."