Fanfiction has a funny way of resisting classification. An art form entirely based on the "what if" is, necessarily, diverse. While tropes and trends exist, there is simply too much fanfiction out there to make grand generalizations. While most fanfiction remains free on the internet, more and more authors are changing the names of their characters and publishing their stories (Jamison, 260-262). Whether or not books that were once fanfiction still count as fanfiction is beyond the point, the art form is an incredibly fluid one.
An art form that is so flexible requires a classification that's just as expansive. Fanfiction is performance, or, at the very least, performative.
"If we compare fan fiction to mythological and folkloric retellings, we can see how it functions as the cultural equivalent of collective storytelling. Fan fiction often retells the same events and scenes, but from different points of view, with myriad extensions and elaborations. Other versions of the same story may be just as important to the fan artwork as the primary source,” (Hellekson & Busse, 21).
The framework this project takes views fanfiction, not as literature, but performance. Francesca Coppa explains, in her essay “Writing Bodies in Space,” that “one could define fan fiction as a textual attempt to make certain characters “perform” according to different behavioral strips,” (2014, 223). Fanfiction allows for the retelling of the same story with different interpretations in ways that are not unlike theatrical interpretations of classic plays such Shakespeare’s Hamlet (2014, 229) or Greek dramas.
The format of fanfiction on the internet adds to its theatricality. Unlike books, fanfiction tends to be released chapter by chapter. Both Fanfiction.net and Archive of our Own allow for users to post reviews, letting authors hear feedback during their writing process. Reviews can be posted relatively easily, via comment, allowing the entire writing process to be more discursive with fellow fans than the normal book-writing process. Authors also engage with their audience, responding, in real time, to questions they may have about the plot or motivations for certain aspects of the story. Coppa explains "we can, therefore, define fanfiction as networked creative work produced within and for a community of fans" (2017, 8)
Situating fanfiction as performance allows for the exploration of the possibilities of queer and feminist fanfiction as a form of discursive performance, a call for representation, and a tool for identity exploration. On the flipside, not all performances are radical, with some fanfiction detailing violent or disturbing content. Fanfiction is not, as previously theorized, inherently radical, but it is performative. And like all performances, fanfiction shows us a great deal about our values.
.png){kind=link}