Filling in the blanks: fanfiction and the cultural canon

Štambuk, Ida. (2015). Filling in the blanks: fanfiction and the cultural canon. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of English Language and Literature. [mentor Cvek, Sven].

Preview

PDF (English) Download (624kB) | Preview

Abstract

It can be said that themes and practices of fanfiction are in many ways influenced by its overwhelmingly female community. This community provides a free space for creating and disseminating content that is often (directly or indirectly) a commentary to canon, and which presupposes a number of smaller communities of (mostly) women. Even though online communities are heterogeneous and we cannot easily make generalized claims about any such community, fanfiction studies (Jenkins, Hellekson, Coppa, Busse etc.) have always tried to explain certain aspects of fanfiction through the aspect of gender. More specifically, the ways in which the female fans have, by writing in an alternative space, highlighted themes that are lacking in the canon as well as the conspicuous absence of women from that same canon. They have thus created a space separate from the market of popular culture (of TV-shows, blockbusters, comic books), the creation and output of which is still controlled by men. This kind of separate space both creates and sustains alternative readings and also depends on sharing those readings while creating a subcultural community.

Actions (login required)

View Item