and at some point i also have to finish my yuletide fic

[whynot]

So my anthropology final is going to be about fanfiction as a platform for the expression of subaltern rhetoric (specifically, pro-LGBT and pro-women rhetoric), and I'll be using Merlin and Narnia fandoms as case studies. Basically, my essay is about: YOU GUYS. I have a 4-page outline for 20-ish (15-ish?) pages and it's due on Tuesday omg.

It was such a trip making this outline. I was writing about The Last Battle, and my gut instinct was to warn for spoilers. Spoilers! Warning for spoilers in an academic essay: I WON'T DO IT, but it feels wrong not to anyway! I'm probably going to compile stats & figures from LJ comms, fic archives, and kinkme_merlin (OMG I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT KINKME_MERLIN IN AN ACADEMIC PAPER) to support my claim that, what, people are into slash. Maybe I'll even make a table of it and put it in the appendix?!? MAYBE I'LL MAKE PIE CHARTS D: D: (XD)

There are peer-reviewed journals and published books about this stuff, but this paper doesn't feel like a grad-level anthro final. It feels like a "what I did over my summer vacation" essay, or an especially self-indulgent LJ post.

I've some interview questions for you guys, 'cos it's not everyday that the subject of my paper topic is but a flist away! Answer one, some, or all; I'd be happy with whatever.


1) Activism within fandom: is it effective? What are examples? I'm talking about when fandom bands together and does something concrete-ish in terms of fund- and awareness-raising. Like, what was that thing not so long ago where ppl were like, "Donate money to this pro-LGBT cause and I'll produce a fanwork for you!"? Or what about the Strikethrough migration, what the hell was up with that? This question is asked in context of why we choose fantasy fiction as a valid battleground for identity politics.

2) Why DO you write fanfiction? What are the relationships between ficcer, fic, and canon to you? (I'm especially interested in the opinions of those who porn, because I do not tend to porn and feel like I'm missing out on a huge subsection of fandom because of it.)

3) How tangible is the fannish community? Do you chat with these people everyday? Do you email them often, or about non-fannish things? Do you meet them IRL? What is the value of your interactions with fellow fans?

4) Small fandom (e.g. Narnia) vs. large fandom (e.g. Merlin): do you have a preference? Why?

5) "Fanfiction is the act of taking something that doesn’t represent you and transforming it into something that does." Discuss.



Non-interviewy questions--

a) What is that article about Merlin when it was new, in which Colin and Bradley were surprised/chuffed that the show was so embraced by the gay community?
b) Do you guys have links to the Merlin producers/publicists blatantly shipping Bradley/Colin, even if just for the slash fans' benefit? Like, that time when Bradley was playing charity soccer and Julian Jones or wtfe was like yeah, Colin's gonna be there with a sponge and bucket to wipe him down.
c) Not for my essay, but: are Katie McGrath's eyes green or blue? THEY'RE GREEN DAMMIT, but I've seen a lot of blue in fics. (GREEN.)

Comments

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

ok, it's more internet activism in general. like, sometimes someone will say something out of ignorance, and 4783027 people pile on telling them what was wrong with what they said, but also (inevitably, whether the people who originally commented wanted this or not) that they're a horrible person, that they deserve to be mocked, etc. i mean, i get it, i feel it, i understand why people do it, i've done it myself. but i'm not sure that does anything apart from getting the OP to go underground or disappear or resent fandom, or decide that they were right and the rest of fandom really is ridiculous. that said, i think that fandom often does do education really well in these situations - even if it's not the OP, the people watching and hearing about it learn.

another thing would be that i simply don't feel the same about issues such as same-sex marriage. i don't think marriage should exist as a legal institution, so i don't really care about getting another few people into it (and before someone reads this and starts a pile-up as per my first paragraph, yes i am in a same-sex relationship and have been for 7 years, so we could almost be the poster children for the cause). i'd be interested in working to make marriage purely religious, or in making the legal benefits tied to marriage into a common-law contract available to next-of-kin, multiple partners, caregivers and co dependent couples . . . but i have no interest in, say, donating money or time to a cause that i don't care about (and more specifically to an organisation that has done/will do fuck all for me as a trans person).

just woke up, so i'm sure i'm missing something here. oh well! hope this helps!

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Haha, I can see that. The people that win most being the lurkers. Those who actually say something are more likely to be taken down hard, like the dialogue and understanding fandom fosters is stoked not by patience but by smackdowns.

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

the dialogue and understanding fandom fosters is stoked not by patience but by smackdowns

QUOTED FOR TRUTH!

though i *do* see patience as well, i have to see.