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The Fan Fiction Studies Reader
An essential introduction to a rapidly growing field of study, The Fan Fiction Studies Reader gathers in one place the key foundational texts of the fan studies corpus, with a focus on fan fiction. Collected here are important texts by scholars whose groundbreaking work established the field and outlined some of its enduring questions. Editors Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse provide cogent introductions that place each piece in its historical and intellectual context, mapping the historical development of fan studies and suggesting its future trajectories.
Organized into four thematic sections, the essays address fan-created works as literary artifacts; the relationship between fandom, identity, and feminism; fandom and affect; and the role of creativity and performance in fan activities. Considered as literary artifacts, fan works pose important questions about the nature of authorship, the meaning of “originality,” and modes of transmission. Sociologically, fan fiction is and long has been a mostly female enterprise, from the fanzines of the 1960s to online forums today, and this fact has shaped its themes and its standing among fans. The questions of how and why people become fans, and what the difference is between liking something and being a fan of it, have also drawn considerable scholarly attention, as has the question of how fans perform their fannish identities for diverse audiences.
Thanks to the overlap between fan studies and other disciplines related to popular and cultural studies—including social, digital, and transmedia studies—an increasing number of scholars are turning to fan studies to engage their students. Fan fiction is the most extensively explored aspect of fan works and fan engagement, and so studies of it can often serve as a basis for addressing other aspects of fandom. These classic essays introduce the field’s key questions and some of its major figures. Those new to the field or in search of context for their own research will find this reader an invaluable resource.
Organized into four thematic sections, the essays address fan-created works as literary artifacts; the relationship between fandom, identity, and feminism; fandom and affect; and the role of creativity and performance in fan activities. Considered as literary artifacts, fan works pose important questions about the nature of authorship, the meaning of “originality,” and modes of transmission. Sociologically, fan fiction is and long has been a mostly female enterprise, from the fanzines of the 1960s to online forums today, and this fact has shaped its themes and its standing among fans. The questions of how and why people become fans, and what the difference is between liking something and being a fan of it, have also drawn considerable scholarly attention, as has the question of how fans perform their fannish identities for diverse audiences.
Thanks to the overlap between fan studies and other disciplines related to popular and cultural studies—including social, digital, and transmedia studies—an increasing number of scholars are turning to fan studies to engage their students. Fan fiction is the most extensively explored aspect of fan works and fan engagement, and so studies of it can often serve as a basis for addressing other aspects of fandom. These classic essays introduce the field’s key questions and some of its major figures. Those new to the field or in search of context for their own research will find this reader an invaluable resource.
254 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 6, 2017
A good resource, but we can do better.
That big ol’ slap in the face tainted my entire reading experience. Anyone who is supposedly educated in fan culture knows it is impossible to have a true understanding of modern fan fiction and fan culture without at least having a cursory knowledge of the impact made by Anime/Manga. A fair amount of the vernacular of fandom, including many fan fiction terms, originate from Japanese, specifically Anime/Manga, fan culture. This is especially true for slash fan fiction (from countless “Western” media fandoms), that not only borrows from the language, but owes many of the popular story tropes and relationship dynamics to Yaoi.
This blatant erasure of an integral part of fandom history and fan culture might not have bothered me as much hadn’t been the only book on fan fiction to suffer from cultural myopia, but it’s not. This self-imposed “blind spot” is becoming all to common “Western” academia's treatment of fan culture, and I’m sick of it.
It is 2014. Whitewashing fan culture has no place in academia. DO BETTER!
Due impart to this homogenized view of fan culture and fan works, I found this book didn’t have anything new to teach me that I didn’t know already. This book, like many academic essays is equal parts thoughtful analysis and overblown knob polishing. It takes a lot of work to separate the wheat from the chaff, but it still has its value.
I would recommend this book to anyone curious about fan fiction and especially to those wishing to study fan culture. There’s a great deal of insight and information, but keep in mind the scope is very narrow, and decidedly pale in complexion. Meanwhile, I’ll be waiting for bell hooks to write a about intersectional feminism in fan culture.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“We have nevertheless chosen to restrict our collection to transformative written works of Western media texts in order to provide a cogent history of one particular strand of fan studies research that has been prolific and influential to both fans and media studies.”
That big ol’ slap in the face tainted my entire reading experience. Anyone who is supposedly educated in fan culture knows it is impossible to have a true understanding of modern fan fiction and fan culture without at least having a cursory knowledge of the impact made by Anime/Manga. A fair amount of the vernacular of fandom, including many fan fiction terms, originate from Japanese, specifically Anime/Manga, fan culture. This is especially true for slash fan fiction (from countless “Western” media fandoms), that not only borrows from the language, but owes many of the popular story tropes and relationship dynamics to Yaoi.
This blatant erasure of an integral part of fandom history and fan culture might not have bothered me as much hadn’t been the only book on fan fiction to suffer from cultural myopia, but it’s not. This self-imposed “blind spot” is becoming all to common “Western” academia's treatment of fan culture, and I’m sick of it.
It is 2014. Whitewashing fan culture has no place in academia. DO BETTER!
Due impart to this homogenized view of fan culture and fan works, I found this book didn’t have anything new to teach me that I didn’t know already. This book, like many academic essays is equal parts thoughtful analysis and overblown knob polishing. It takes a lot of work to separate the wheat from the chaff, but it still has its value.
I would recommend this book to anyone curious about fan fiction and especially to those wishing to study fan culture. There’s a great deal of insight and information, but keep in mind the scope is very narrow, and decidedly pale in complexion. Meanwhile, I’ll be waiting for bell hooks to write a about intersectional feminism in fan culture.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 14, 2024
I found this collection of readings on fan fiction studies to be just OK.
April 24, 2015
As someone who is writing her master's thesis on fanfiction, I thought this books would save my life and give me a startpoint on the field. However, now I feel like I've wasted time, energy and money in this. Don't get me wrong, the book is good, and the articles/studies/papers on it are of great interest, but I think it miserably fails at its aim of being an introduction to the field. Yes, some of the texts included here are what one might call "foundational" texts, but just on the first pages I realised that the title was misleading:
FanFiction Studies reader, but the texts come from the field of Fan Studies (there are a couple of texts which don't have anything to do with fanfiction per se), and the focus on fanfiction is based on a Western perspective, within media fandoms and basicaly dealing with Star Trek. The perspective is too narrow. Where is the Japanese/Manga influence? And the literary fandoms? And what about a simple explanation of what is fanfiction? Now, the reference section is a goldmine for me, so I'll give them that.
Other than that, this book is not for someone who is trying to get into the world of fanfiction, certainly. It is a purely scholarly work. I can't say it's a bad book, and I don't want to dismiss the editors effort- they did a pretty good job, but I feel it didn't meet its purposes and for that I'm giving it 2 stars.
FanFiction Studies reader, but the texts come from the field of Fan Studies (there are a couple of texts which don't have anything to do with fanfiction per se), and the focus on fanfiction is based on a Western perspective, within media fandoms and basicaly dealing with Star Trek. The perspective is too narrow. Where is the Japanese/Manga influence? And the literary fandoms? And what about a simple explanation of what is fanfiction? Now, the reference section is a goldmine for me, so I'll give them that.
Other than that, this book is not for someone who is trying to get into the world of fanfiction, certainly. It is a purely scholarly work. I can't say it's a bad book, and I don't want to dismiss the editors effort- they did a pretty good job, but I feel it didn't meet its purposes and for that I'm giving it 2 stars.
March 24, 2020
I was a little worried that this was too narrow a collection, covering mostly K/S fanfic of the 70s, but I was surprised by the final few entries and the debates they entered. Overall, this is a solid entry into Fanfiction Studies. Is there a lot more to the field? Sure, but this has some of the groundwork essays is one place, and I can't deny the centrality of K/S erotic fanfiction in the field just because it's not my favorite fandom. I'm excerpting this for a first year lit course themed with adaptation and appropriation, and it seems accessible enough with guidance.
September 3, 2014
Full review here:http://galactictidesx.blogspot.ca/201...
If you're looking for an insight into fandom and how it came to be, Fic by Anne Jamison is the fun and lighter pop culture guide. If you'd like a better understanding of how it feels to be involved in fandom, I think Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell has a touching, if fictionalized, account of fandom. The Fan Fiction Studies Reader is about how academia is theorizing about fandom as a subset of cultural studies and its connection to other cultural practices of interpreting, reinterpreting and making stories in our own image. Through a series of academic articles, the Fan Fiction Studies Reader guides us through the modern academic conversations about fanfiction.
There's mention of Sherlock, Star Trek, Xena, Babylon 5, Harry Potter, X-Files and Star Wars but really only in-depth analysis of the first two. However, I will say it does take into account how different fandoms negotiate their space and how individual fandoms have adapted to different mediums and their subject matter quite differently. My favourite discussions (because I'm sure as it goes on, much like fandom there will be clashing theories about not only fandom's significance but its interpretations) are the few that really connect to other fields. On feminism and sexuality, slash fiction and the much maligned Mary Sue, there are some really wonderful in-depth articles exploring the possible meanings and the more complicated discussions these things entail.
I'm really not pleased with the restriction of the texts used to Western media--I really think it does the text a disservice and also erases the origins of a lot of fan culture and tropes. I also think that the fact there is nothing in-depth about modern fandoms (i.e. Supernatural, Harry Potter, One Direction etc) restricts a better understanding of how the internet has influenced this phenomena. I acknowledge that Hellekson and Busse already edited a volume of essays called "Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet" but some of that could have been captured in the Fan Fiction Studies Reader if it is meant to be a foundational text, especially one from the Organization of Transformative Works. That being said, it is a fair overview of academia and fanfiction.
Full disclosure: I received this book as a Netgalley from University of Iowa Books in exchange for an honest review.
If you're looking for an insight into fandom and how it came to be, Fic by Anne Jamison is the fun and lighter pop culture guide. If you'd like a better understanding of how it feels to be involved in fandom, I think Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell has a touching, if fictionalized, account of fandom. The Fan Fiction Studies Reader is about how academia is theorizing about fandom as a subset of cultural studies and its connection to other cultural practices of interpreting, reinterpreting and making stories in our own image. Through a series of academic articles, the Fan Fiction Studies Reader guides us through the modern academic conversations about fanfiction.
There's mention of Sherlock, Star Trek, Xena, Babylon 5, Harry Potter, X-Files and Star Wars but really only in-depth analysis of the first two. However, I will say it does take into account how different fandoms negotiate their space and how individual fandoms have adapted to different mediums and their subject matter quite differently. My favourite discussions (because I'm sure as it goes on, much like fandom there will be clashing theories about not only fandom's significance but its interpretations) are the few that really connect to other fields. On feminism and sexuality, slash fiction and the much maligned Mary Sue, there are some really wonderful in-depth articles exploring the possible meanings and the more complicated discussions these things entail.
I'm really not pleased with the restriction of the texts used to Western media--I really think it does the text a disservice and also erases the origins of a lot of fan culture and tropes. I also think that the fact there is nothing in-depth about modern fandoms (i.e. Supernatural, Harry Potter, One Direction etc) restricts a better understanding of how the internet has influenced this phenomena. I acknowledge that Hellekson and Busse already edited a volume of essays called "Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet" but some of that could have been captured in the Fan Fiction Studies Reader if it is meant to be a foundational text, especially one from the Organization of Transformative Works. That being said, it is a fair overview of academia and fanfiction.
Full disclosure: I received this book as a Netgalley from University of Iowa Books in exchange for an honest review.
June 2, 2020
The Fan Fiction Studies Reader serves as a primer to the world of fan fiction studies by excerpting eleven essays by academics in the field. These essays are grouped into four thematic areas: Fan Fiction as Literature, Fan Identity and Feminism, Fan Communities and Affect, and Fan Creativity and Performance.
Sophie took away a huge amount from these essays, most importantly a new way of looking at media texts which is worlds apart from what she was taught at school. Many of the choices made by female slash writers also became more understandable when viewed through these lenses, although Sophie often ended up with more questions than she did answers, “that’s all very well but what about these types of stories?” She was particularly intrigued by the assertion that fan fiction is better explained as a form of theatre than of literature.
Two criticisms Sophie had were with the choices of essays selected. First, many of the essays dated from the early years of modern fandom and the very beginnings of fan studies research in the early-mid eighties. While she appreciates the value in looking at the subject at its beginning, many of the issues raised are no longer relevant in the vast majority of fandom today. For example, many of the essays discuss the way fanfiction is shared through edited zines at conventions, these days an almost unheard-of method of distribution.
Secondly, while fanfiction itself is broad and global, the essays here are focused on a very tiny subsection of the practice as a whole. In fact, you could get away with calling this the Star Trek Fan Fiction Studies Reader given that ten of the eleven essays mention the show to at least some degree. While modern fanfiction does, of course, share its roots with the stories shared in zines in the late 1960s, they are now worlds apart and it was hard to see much exploration of the way the medium has evolved.
Sophie took away a huge amount from these essays, most importantly a new way of looking at media texts which is worlds apart from what she was taught at school. Many of the choices made by female slash writers also became more understandable when viewed through these lenses, although Sophie often ended up with more questions than she did answers, “that’s all very well but what about these types of stories?” She was particularly intrigued by the assertion that fan fiction is better explained as a form of theatre than of literature.
Two criticisms Sophie had were with the choices of essays selected. First, many of the essays dated from the early years of modern fandom and the very beginnings of fan studies research in the early-mid eighties. While she appreciates the value in looking at the subject at its beginning, many of the issues raised are no longer relevant in the vast majority of fandom today. For example, many of the essays discuss the way fanfiction is shared through edited zines at conventions, these days an almost unheard-of method of distribution.
Secondly, while fanfiction itself is broad and global, the essays here are focused on a very tiny subsection of the practice as a whole. In fact, you could get away with calling this the Star Trek Fan Fiction Studies Reader given that ten of the eleven essays mention the show to at least some degree. While modern fanfiction does, of course, share its roots with the stories shared in zines in the late 1960s, they are now worlds apart and it was hard to see much exploration of the way the medium has evolved.
Read
January 21, 2022Well, I learned a lot about pon farr! All jokes aside, the introduction chapters are super helpful, and the selection of essays, which are mostly oldies but goldies, nevertheless provides a good historical overview of the field. Also I'm always down for a reread od Joanna Russ' hillarious "Pornography for Women, by Women, with Love"
March 31, 2015
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5
Fan Fiction seems to have become its own genre, with critical studies examining the genre. This book, The Fan Fiction Studies Reader, edited by Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse is such an examination.
I have been familiar with 'fan fiction' since the late 1970's -- before it had a specific label as 'fan fiction.' My own introduction to the form was through the television show, Star Trek. Not surprisingly, the bulk of the articles in this book also deal with Star Trek related fiction. In some ways, that's a bit of a problem. Fan fiction has become so much larger than a bunch of Star Trek nerds writing about their favorite characters. It has become more than a means to write pornography using familiar characters. This book might have done itself a favor and labelled it "Volume 1" as there are clearly many more essays about a wide variety of media and characters that fans write about.
But...speaking specifically to this book, I will admit that I was enlightened and learned a few things. Granted, I'm not deeply ensconced in fan fiction myself (not since the late 80's), but I did learn what a Mary-Sue story is (and that I've never liked them).
The editors wrote (almost at length) between each essay, to set up the topic that the essay would address. Some of their comments were as enlightening as the included essay. In Part 3, "Fan Communities and Affect" they put in to writing something I've long felt was true:
I think that the internet and social media have changed this a bit ... when it's easy to find people who share the same passion as you, it's easier to feel comfortable expressing fannish behavior. Take a look at the growth of things like 'cosplay' as an example.
One aspect of fan fiction that is addressed, which I am aware of but have never been interested in reading, is what is called 'slash' fiction. This has typically been identified through Kirk/Spock (read "Kirk slash Spock") stories in which there is a sexual relationship between the two male figures (I hesitate to refer to it as a homosexual relationship for reasons identified in at least one of the essays). Kirk/Spock is not the only slash fiction in fan fiction. Another popular slash is Xenia/Gabrielle, and there are countless others as well.
While I've never been drawn to read this sort of fiction, it's a personal taste. I took issue with a comment in Chapter 9, "Future Men" by Constance Penley when she writes:
I can't help but wonder where this statement comes from. There are eleven footnotes in this article, but nothing to state where the generalization that Trekkers want to deride and dismiss 'slashers' comes from or where the data comes from to identify the statement that Trekkers believe themselves superior to the rest of U.S. society in any thing. She goes on to write:
I just don't understand how the author comes to these conclusions. Slash fiction has gotten a fair amount of attention because it's out of the ordinary (though with sexual fiction hitting the 'big time' [ie: Fifty Shades of Grey] it's no longer such a fringe element), and if there's a movement from within fandom against it, it's more likely because fans already get derided (see the first quote I used from the book) by non-fans and they (we) don't need to add to it for something they (we) don't participate in. "Threatened?" I don't think so. I can't say that I've ever met a Star Trek fan who was "threatened" by slash fiction (if they were even aware of it). I wouldn't deny that Trekkers make up as diverse a cross-section of individuals as any other fannish activity and that there could well be individuals who would react in such a way, but I truly can't believe that this generalization of Constance Penley's reflects a majority as her writing implies. This was really a remarkable, negative generalization.
On a positive note, I really appreciated Francesca Coppa's article "Writing Bodies in Space: Media Fan Fiction as Theatrical Performance." She writes and compares fandom to theatrical interests.
This actually sounds exciting, and gets to the root of fan fiction in a way that I hadn't thought about before. She begins her final paragraph (which concludes the book as well) with an almost perfect analogy:
I believe that fandom is community theatre in a mass media world; fandom is what happened to the culture of amateur dramatics. In the days before television, people often made theatre in their homes, for fun, and in fandom, we still make theatre together, for fun, except we cast the play from our televisions sets. Theatre—actual, three-dimensional theatre that moves bodies in space—is expensive and requires tremendous social capital...
I didn't agree with every essay in the book, and some I thought were perhaps a little dated, but over-all I really liked that there are critical essays on the genre of fan fiction (even if it is likened to community theatre) and I hope that there will be more, addressing a wider range of media fandom.
This book contains the following:
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why a Fan Fiction Studies Reader Now?
Part 1. Fan Fiction as Literature
1. Henry Jenkins - "Textual Poachers"
2. Roberta Pearson - "It’s Always 1895: Sherlock Holmes in Cyberspace"
3. Cornel Sandvoss - "The Death of the Reader? Literary Theory and the Study of Texts in Popular Culture"
Part 2. Fan Identity and Feminism
4. Joanna Russ - "Pornography by Women, for Women, with Love"
5. Patricia Frazer Lamb and Diane Veith - "Romantic Myth, Transcendence, and Star Trek Zines"
6. Sara Gwenllian Jones - "The Sex Lives of Cult Television Characters"
Part 3. Fan Communities and Affect
7. Camille Bacon-Smith - "Training New Members"
8. Nicholas Abercrombie and Brian Longhurst - "Fans and Enthusiasts"
9. Constance Penley - "Future Men"
Part 4. Fan Creativity and Performance
10. Kurt Lancaster - "Performing in Babylon Performing in Everyday Life"
11. Francesca Coppa - "Writing Bodies in Space: Media Fan Fiction as Theatrical Performance"
Bibliography
Permissions
Index
Looking for a good book? The Fan Fiction Studies Reader is a worthy collection of critical essays on fan fiction; perfect for anyone interested in knowing more about what fan fiction is, as well as for those who are already reading such.
I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Fan Fiction seems to have become its own genre, with critical studies examining the genre. This book, The Fan Fiction Studies Reader, edited by Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse is such an examination.
I have been familiar with 'fan fiction' since the late 1970's -- before it had a specific label as 'fan fiction.' My own introduction to the form was through the television show, Star Trek. Not surprisingly, the bulk of the articles in this book also deal with Star Trek related fiction. In some ways, that's a bit of a problem. Fan fiction has become so much larger than a bunch of Star Trek nerds writing about their favorite characters. It has become more than a means to write pornography using familiar characters. This book might have done itself a favor and labelled it "Volume 1" as there are clearly many more essays about a wide variety of media and characters that fans write about.
But...speaking specifically to this book, I will admit that I was enlightened and learned a few things. Granted, I'm not deeply ensconced in fan fiction myself (not since the late 80's), but I did learn what a Mary-Sue story is (and that I've never liked them).
The editors wrote (almost at length) between each essay, to set up the topic that the essay would address. Some of their comments were as enlightening as the included essay. In Part 3, "Fan Communities and Affect" they put in to writing something I've long felt was true:
...watching the Super Bowl or going to the theater or collecting stamps, all fannish activities in their own right. Yet fans of popular culture are often dismissed ... and media fans in particular are frequently represented as displaying unhealthy, obsessive, even pathological behavior....
I think that the internet and social media have changed this a bit ... when it's easy to find people who share the same passion as you, it's easier to feel comfortable expressing fannish behavior. Take a look at the growth of things like 'cosplay' as an example.
One aspect of fan fiction that is addressed, which I am aware of but have never been interested in reading, is what is called 'slash' fiction. This has typically been identified through Kirk/Spock (read "Kirk slash Spock") stories in which there is a sexual relationship between the two male figures (I hesitate to refer to it as a homosexual relationship for reasons identified in at least one of the essays). Kirk/Spock is not the only slash fiction in fan fiction. Another popular slash is Xenia/Gabrielle, and there are countless others as well.
While I've never been drawn to read this sort of fiction, it's a personal taste. I took issue with a comment in Chapter 9, "Future Men" by Constance Penley when she writes:
... The Trekkers have had to struggle mightily, however, to find the right language to deride and dismiss the slashers. After all, Trekdom is a culture that believes itself superior to the rest of the U.S. society in the strength of its allegiance to the values of democratic equality and tolerance for differences.
I can't help but wonder where this statement comes from. There are eleven footnotes in this article, but nothing to state where the generalization that Trekkers want to deride and dismiss 'slashers' comes from or where the data comes from to identify the statement that Trekkers believe themselves superior to the rest of U.S. society in any thing. She goes on to write:
The slash version of Star Trek threatens the Trekkers because it is not only sexually but politically scary, with its overt homoeroticism throwing into sharp relief the usually invisible homosocial underpinnings of Trekdom, the Federation, and U.S. culture.
I just don't understand how the author comes to these conclusions. Slash fiction has gotten a fair amount of attention because it's out of the ordinary (though with sexual fiction hitting the 'big time' [ie: Fifty Shades of Grey] it's no longer such a fringe element), and if there's a movement from within fandom against it, it's more likely because fans already get derided (see the first quote I used from the book) by non-fans and they (we) don't need to add to it for something they (we) don't participate in. "Threatened?" I don't think so. I can't say that I've ever met a Star Trek fan who was "threatened" by slash fiction (if they were even aware of it). I wouldn't deny that Trekkers make up as diverse a cross-section of individuals as any other fannish activity and that there could well be individuals who would react in such a way, but I truly can't believe that this generalization of Constance Penley's reflects a majority as her writing implies. This was really a remarkable, negative generalization.
On a positive note, I really appreciated Francesca Coppa's article "Writing Bodies in Space: Media Fan Fiction as Theatrical Performance." She writes and compares fandom to theatrical interests.
In theatre, there’s a value to revising the same text in order to explore different aspects and play out different behavioral strips; similarly, in television, we don’t mind tuning in week after week to see the same characters in entirely different stories. We don’t mind new versions of Hamlet the way we don’t mind new episodes of Star Trek. We don’t say, “Oh, Star Trek again? We had Star Trek last week!” We don’t mind if Kirk and Spock visit—as they did on the aired series—a planet based on Roman gladiator culture, or Native American culture, or America during the Great Depression. Most people happily watch televised repeats—identical replayings of dramatic action. How much more interesting would different performances of the same scripts be if the actors and directors explored the limitations of the text and tried to elicit different readings, different embodied meanings? And because fan fiction is an amateur production accountable to no market forces, it allows for radical reimaginings: plots, themes, and endings that would never be permitted on network television. One could imagine Star Trek by David Lynch, Star Trek by Stanley Kubrick, Star Trek by Woody Allen—and what I’m getting at here is that that’s what fan fiction is.
This actually sounds exciting, and gets to the root of fan fiction in a way that I hadn't thought about before. She begins her final paragraph (which concludes the book as well) with an almost perfect analogy:
I believe that fandom is community theatre in a mass media world; fandom is what happened to the culture of amateur dramatics. In the days before television, people often made theatre in their homes, for fun, and in fandom, we still make theatre together, for fun, except we cast the play from our televisions sets. Theatre—actual, three-dimensional theatre that moves bodies in space—is expensive and requires tremendous social capital...
I didn't agree with every essay in the book, and some I thought were perhaps a little dated, but over-all I really liked that there are critical essays on the genre of fan fiction (even if it is likened to community theatre) and I hope that there will be more, addressing a wider range of media fandom.
This book contains the following:
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why a Fan Fiction Studies Reader Now?
Part 1. Fan Fiction as Literature
1. Henry Jenkins - "Textual Poachers"
2. Roberta Pearson - "It’s Always 1895: Sherlock Holmes in Cyberspace"
3. Cornel Sandvoss - "The Death of the Reader? Literary Theory and the Study of Texts in Popular Culture"
Part 2. Fan Identity and Feminism
4. Joanna Russ - "Pornography by Women, for Women, with Love"
5. Patricia Frazer Lamb and Diane Veith - "Romantic Myth, Transcendence, and Star Trek Zines"
6. Sara Gwenllian Jones - "The Sex Lives of Cult Television Characters"
Part 3. Fan Communities and Affect
7. Camille Bacon-Smith - "Training New Members"
8. Nicholas Abercrombie and Brian Longhurst - "Fans and Enthusiasts"
9. Constance Penley - "Future Men"
Part 4. Fan Creativity and Performance
10. Kurt Lancaster - "Performing in Babylon Performing in Everyday Life"
11. Francesca Coppa - "Writing Bodies in Space: Media Fan Fiction as Theatrical Performance"
Bibliography
Permissions
Index
Looking for a good book? The Fan Fiction Studies Reader is a worthy collection of critical essays on fan fiction; perfect for anyone interested in knowing more about what fan fiction is, as well as for those who are already reading such.
I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
July 24, 2024
This book is an essential introduction to the field of fan fiction studies, and I had a lot of fun reading it. As a linguist I was more interested in the last chapter on performance since it cited Goffman (my most/least favorite theorist of performance) and was reminiscent of language socialization studies so that made me happy. Also very amused by the 2002 chart putting "erotic furries who write self insert star trek fanfic" at the very bottom the geek hierarchy, I guess some things never change.
February 12, 2025
I read chapters of this book to quickly refresh my knowledge about the theoretical foundations of fanfiction studies. I can only recommend it for this purpose - while it provides solid points of departure for exploring the field, it focuses far too much on Anglo-American white fans and does not travel beyond this demographic, which makes its discussions of fan works confined. Its discussions of queerness and feminism are also terribly outdated and, dare I say, heteronormative. To this, I do say boo.
July 19, 2017
Interesting, but not very relevant to what I'm researching sadly. Still a useful resource though.
June 7, 2020
Great intro to important topics in the field of fan fiction studies.
March 12, 2014
There was a period of time in my primary and secondary school years where everyone I knew was reading and/or writing fanfiction. The normal categories were "Teen Titans" or "Prince of Tennis", basically animated shows, but there were students writing Enid Blyton fanfiction. I know because I was one of them, to be more accurate, I begged my friends to write me into the Enid Blyton fanfiction.
Unfortunately, Enid Blyton fanfiction does not feature in this book. Instead, the fanfiction (I mean, specific fandoms and fanfiction) that is analysed the most would be Star Trek. There's also a chapter on Sherlock Holmes. So when the author says "we have nevertheless chosen to restric our collection [of fan studies] to transformative written works of Western media texts", please note that it's even more specific then that - there's nothing 'recent' (recent meaning fandoms like Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings, and even, sigh, Twilight). Specific fandoms analysed are Sherlock Holmes (1 essay), Star Trek (4 essays) and Babylon5 (1 essay), with a total of 11 essays.
Personally, I feel like most of this is dated. Sure, the analysis is interesting, but references to things like "fanzines" make me think that this was the pre-internet/early internet era. A quick look at introduction shows that only three essays were written after the year 2000. Personally, I would have liked to see a few more recent papers, because I think that the fanfiction subculture has changed a lot in the last couple of years.
While this book is interesting, the tone is largely academic and a bit difficult to read. If you're interested in delving into fanfiction studies seriously (perhaps as a university paper), then this book may be relevant to you. But if you want something that explains fanfiction and/or the field of fan studies in general terms, this book may be a bit too complicated.
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
Unfortunately, Enid Blyton fanfiction does not feature in this book. Instead, the fanfiction (I mean, specific fandoms and fanfiction) that is analysed the most would be Star Trek. There's also a chapter on Sherlock Holmes. So when the author says "we have nevertheless chosen to restric our collection [of fan studies] to transformative written works of Western media texts", please note that it's even more specific then that - there's nothing 'recent' (recent meaning fandoms like Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings, and even, sigh, Twilight). Specific fandoms analysed are Sherlock Holmes (1 essay), Star Trek (4 essays) and Babylon5 (1 essay), with a total of 11 essays.
Personally, I feel like most of this is dated. Sure, the analysis is interesting, but references to things like "fanzines" make me think that this was the pre-internet/early internet era. A quick look at introduction shows that only three essays were written after the year 2000. Personally, I would have liked to see a few more recent papers, because I think that the fanfiction subculture has changed a lot in the last couple of years.
While this book is interesting, the tone is largely academic and a bit difficult to read. If you're interested in delving into fanfiction studies seriously (perhaps as a university paper), then this book may be relevant to you. But if you want something that explains fanfiction and/or the field of fan studies in general terms, this book may be a bit too complicated.
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
August 6, 2016
For full review please visit me @ http://thelast2know.wordpress.com/201...
I was really eager to get stuck into this. Fan fiction is still a ‘genre’ or ‘form’ of writing that I’m in two minds about. On the one hand I love reading and writing it, but on the other, it is a breeding ground for smut and cyber bullies (if you’re a ‘non canon’ writer it can be a bit like sticking your hand into a tank full of piranhas. You might be ok..)
It has become such a large media platform now that it is impossible to dismiss anymore and I’m glad that someone has also recognised this too. The Fan Fiction Studies Reader is probably more ‘inevitable’ rather than ‘innovative’.
My ideas and stance on fan fiction has been challenged by this book. Can I really allow Jean Rheas’ ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ to be called fan fiction? If it is, it is of the highest quality and independent thought. Riding off the back of Jane Eyre, true, but set in a different location (for the most part) and with character perspectives that are new and a writing style to match.
The Fan Fiction Studies Reader is a lot of fun! I mean, I’m a bit of a textbook nerd, so I think this was always going to be a win for me. It covers the basics, and then it delves in deeper. Looking at readership as well as creation and taking the motives and benefits into consideration too. This is a well researched text. No stone goes unturned, even the Mary Sue gets her own section.
Who do I think this book is for?
Contemporary literature students. Media students. Fan fiction lovers. Literature enthusiasts, in all its forms. Creative writers. The curious.
I think I can happily give this 4/5. It was really interesting!
I was really eager to get stuck into this. Fan fiction is still a ‘genre’ or ‘form’ of writing that I’m in two minds about. On the one hand I love reading and writing it, but on the other, it is a breeding ground for smut and cyber bullies (if you’re a ‘non canon’ writer it can be a bit like sticking your hand into a tank full of piranhas. You might be ok..)
It has become such a large media platform now that it is impossible to dismiss anymore and I’m glad that someone has also recognised this too. The Fan Fiction Studies Reader is probably more ‘inevitable’ rather than ‘innovative’.
My ideas and stance on fan fiction has been challenged by this book. Can I really allow Jean Rheas’ ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’ to be called fan fiction? If it is, it is of the highest quality and independent thought. Riding off the back of Jane Eyre, true, but set in a different location (for the most part) and with character perspectives that are new and a writing style to match.
The Fan Fiction Studies Reader is a lot of fun! I mean, I’m a bit of a textbook nerd, so I think this was always going to be a win for me. It covers the basics, and then it delves in deeper. Looking at readership as well as creation and taking the motives and benefits into consideration too. This is a well researched text. No stone goes unturned, even the Mary Sue gets her own section.
Who do I think this book is for?
Contemporary literature students. Media students. Fan fiction lovers. Literature enthusiasts, in all its forms. Creative writers. The curious.
I think I can happily give this 4/5. It was really interesting!
October 28, 2015
I read The Fan Fiction Studies Reader at the suggestion of a professor with the intent to use it for a research project, and, as such, was pretty pleased with it. There are two essays in here that I can use in a very direct fashion, and past that, an excellent bibliography to mine. As a reader, though, I appreciate the history of female sci-fi fandom being presented as smart, worthwhile, and worthy of scholarly attention. Though by the necessity of the source base, most of the essays in this book focus on Star Trek slash fan fiction and fan communities, I'd still recommend it to other fangirls interested in seeing where nerd-dom has been and how it got to where it was.
As far as the level of these essays goes, some of them are insanely dense, while others are fairly moderate-to-light reading. Being interested in the subject probably helped, but I don't think that you would have to be a grad student to get a lot of this book. It could be a bit more in depth, especially regarding fan activities other than fan fiction, as those are discussed at length in an intro to essays that never mention them. However, since there's such a huge bibliography given at the end, it's hard to complain about that.
As far as the level of these essays goes, some of them are insanely dense, while others are fairly moderate-to-light reading. Being interested in the subject probably helped, but I don't think that you would have to be a grad student to get a lot of this book. It could be a bit more in depth, especially regarding fan activities other than fan fiction, as those are discussed at length in an intro to essays that never mention them. However, since there's such a huge bibliography given at the end, it's hard to complain about that.
February 16, 2016
Readers - the collection of prior works on a particular topic - can be tired, predictable and exploitative of consumers. This Fan Fiction Studies Reader is worth the price of entry. While it is a 'best of' collection and many of the essays and chapters would be resident in most cultural studies collections, there is enough innovation and reassessment to make this book worthwhile.
I believe it could be used quite well as a textbook for fan studies and as the foundation for an honours seminar on fan fiction.
I believe it could be used quite well as a textbook for fan studies and as the foundation for an honours seminar on fan fiction.
February 24, 2021
interesting as a history of the study. the age of most of these essays shows particularly with regards to the approaches to gender.
July 30, 2016
It was useful for my immediate research purposes.
Currently reading
May 28, 2019I finished my other one and now I’m reading one about a girl who can talk to the dead. A spirit is trying to get her to deliver a message to his family who is alive but she doesn’t want to. Will she agree?
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