Let the Fanfic In!
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Let The Fanfic In! The value and contribution of fanfiction to the transmedia network MA Thesis Television and Cross Media Cultures Loetje de Voogt 6058558 First reader: Anne Kustritz Second reader: Stephen Amico June 27, 2014 University of Amsterdam UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM June, 2014 This MA thesis is presented by Loetje de Voogt 6058558 Amsterdam This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author. 2 | P a g i n a Abstract: This research examines the possible contribution of fanfiction to the transmedia network and its position within the contemporary media landscape. By examining the course of the position of fanfiction throughout the years, a new position of fanfiction can be established, as it has now shifted to a more accessible and accepted position. The analysis of the TV show Arrow shows how fanfiction can contribute to the overall transmedia experience, as the online stories expand the existing storyworld, offer alternative plotlines, and deepen and enrich the experience of the viewer. The narrative structures of Arrow’s fanfiction provide more space and time than any other transmedia platform to take the viewer into a more in-depth journey of the Arrow storyworld. This research thus shows how fanfiction can be a valuable contribution to transmedia networks for producers as it ensures persuasion, audience connection and financial impact. The analysis of Arrow also shows a shift of fanfiction into the mainstream as it is striking that the main genre is heterosexual, – “Olicity” fiction, the pairing of characters Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak – while in most cases slash (same sex) fiction is the largest fanfiction genre. Keywords: fanfiction, fans, transmedia, transmedia network, transmedia storytelling, Arrow, slash, media, fan works. 3 | P a g i n a Table of Contents Abstract: .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1. The show Arrow ....................................................................................................................... 8 2. Transmedia ...................................................................................................................................... 9 2.1. Transmedia and fanfiction ....................................................................................................... 9 3. A Definition and History of Fandom and Fanfiction ...................................................................... 12 3.1. Fans and fandom ................................................................................................................... 12 3.2. Fanfiction ............................................................................................................................... 13 4. Fanfiction in Academic and Social Cultural Context ...................................................................... 16 4.1. Weirdo’s with no life(?): Fans in social cultural context ....................................................... 16 4.2. Why study fanfiction? ........................................................................................................... 18 5. Fanfiction and the Industry ........................................................................................................... 21 5.1. The industry’s perspective on fanfiction ............................................................................... 21 5.2. The fan-author relationship .................................................................................................. 25 5.3. Fans and Felicity Smoak ........................................................................................................ 26 6. Transmedia Fanfiction in Arrow .................................................................................................... 29 6.1. Fanfiction platforms, narrative structures and intertextuality ............................................. 29 6.2. Transmedia platforms of Arrow ............................................................................................ 29 6.2.1. Fanfiction archives: Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own ........................................ 31 6.3. Narrative structures .............................................................................................................. 34 6.3.1. Arrow and narrative structures ..................................................................................... 38 6.3.2. Arrow and slash fiction? ................................................................................................ 42 6.4. Intertextuality ........................................................................................................................ 44 7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 47 8. Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 51 4 | P a g i n a Acknowledgements I am indebted to several people for their support of this thesis. First of all, I would like to thank my parents, Emmy van Houten and Pim de Voogt, who have made it possible for me to study at the university, and who have supported me all these years. If it was not for them, I would not have been able to finish my education. Many thanks for all your love and support. I would also like to thank my friend and fellow student Hugo, who was always there to help me out with any obstacle I would encounter, and who I could always turn to whenever I needed advice. Naturally, I would also like to thank my supervisor Anne Kustritz, who has helped me to gain new insights and to make interesting observations. If it was not for her and her feedback, I would not have been able to write this thesis I am now so proud of. Many thanks to all. Loetje de Voogt. 5 | P a g i n a 1. Introduction Within humanities, as the name evidently describes, the human is the central object of studies. We examine human interactions and learn what the motivations for particular actions are. By studying fanfiction, one can get close to what it is that drives fans in their activities. Fanfiction is the writing of stories by fans, based on already existing characters and worlds written by another author. Fan authors ‘borrow’ these existing characters and worlds and often write alternative storylines in which the characters lives and adventures take new and alternative turns. Fans literally put their thoughts and desires on paper in fanfiction. They write down what they would like to see happen and how they imagine a story would develop. A very import aspect of reading and writing fanfiction is commenting on one another’s work. By doing so, a web of interactions evolves. This web is very interesting for scholars, as it tells something about how the interactions between fans work, how ‘fan authors’ see themselves, and how they relate to the narrative transmedia world of an existing text. Thus far, little research has been done to the relation between fan works and transmedia, and in particular on fanfiction. This research will contribute to and help to expand this upcoming research genre. In this research I will examine how fandom and in particular fanfiction has developed over the years, and how it has established itself within the contemporary media culture. Fanfiction was, for a long time, a fairly underground activity and still is a subject rather unknown to many people. That said, it so happens to be the case that the fanfiction culture is rapidly evolving and getting more awareness. With this research I aim to explore that evolution and explore the position of fanfiction in the contemporary transmedia landscape. I will examine how fanfiction is valued in social/academic perspective and what this is like from the industry’s perspective. Questions that arise with that are; How did fanfiction start out? What was its (cultural) value initially and how did the industry react to this phenomenon? And most importantly, how has the position and the value it started out with developed over the years? By providing a short history of (media) fandom and fanfiction one can better understand how fanfiction is positioned within these contexts, and this will provide answers to these questions. By examining these different perspectives on fanfiction, a more important question can eventually be answered; how fanfiction is positioned within and how it can contribute to the transmedia network; a storytelling strategy most media corporations use these days. The incorporation of fanfiction into the transmedia network is related to the attitude of both the industry’s and the academic world towards it. In an era of digitalization and technology all types of media tend to blur together. New ways of storytelling evolve in which the consumer participates more than ever. When the viewer turns on the television he or she is constantly invited to search for 6 | P a g i n a other media to continue the experience of the show he or she is watching. According to scholars like Henry Jenkins, the audience wants to have the opportunity to not be a couch potato,