This whole fan fiction thing, with copyright discussions and everything, has had me thinking lately: what is original? I believe I mentioned, at some point, the "original work" in comparison to fanfiction based on said work. I know this is somewhat cliché, and has been discussed before, but how can we really define an original work? Let's look at Harry Potter, since that's what we've been discussing. I haven't read most of Rowling's books, but I'm guessing that many of her story lines are "original," in that she didn't base them particularly on any other stories. However, much of the content that fills her books is borrowed from myths and folklore. Many of the novels I like to read are based at least in part on fairytales and the like. How do we draw the line? Why is it ok for Rowling to draw heavily on other stories, but more questionable for someone else to write a story drawing on her books for their characters or what-not?
I don't expect an answer will be forthcoming on this one any time soon...
Monday, April 7, 2008
A conclusion of sorts
So what do we do with all of this? All of the photos, drawings, stories, music, videos, and animations? Are these re-iterations the effect that the internet has on literature? I would conclude that, yes, this is the case. The internet is a highly tribalizing form. McLuhan always warns/lauds about the 'wave' that electric technology would have on society due to it's increase in speed. The internet - not the internet of the 1990s but of the 21st century - is the current apotheosis of that speed up. To expand on Paulo Virilio a little bit, I would argue that it is not the city that becomes the 'district' to the 'meta-world' but the computer terminal. Through the computer and the internet, people can edit and remake anything (limited possibly by the sophistication of policing) and put it up on the internet. Harry Potter is no exception. As you can see, fanfiction goes beyond merely writing stories around the original literature (although it is a significant portion of it) but extends into any media that a fan can create. Some can even achieve a level of fame (or infamy) from their creations.
If this blog is any indication of what the internet is capable of doing to literature, I would say that the effect of the internet on literature is to transform a highly 'hot' medium into an intensely 'cool' participatory one - where participation is the very attempt at creating something in relation to the primary source.
McLuhan would probably shun me for wanting to bring an ethical standpoint to it all, but I would also argue that this transformation is a good thing. Literature still 'fragments' the readers with their different reading and interpretations of the text but that leads to the diversity of recreations in different media that they then can host on the internet.
Fin!
If this blog is any indication of what the internet is capable of doing to literature, I would say that the effect of the internet on literature is to transform a highly 'hot' medium into an intensely 'cool' participatory one - where participation is the very attempt at creating something in relation to the primary source.
McLuhan would probably shun me for wanting to bring an ethical standpoint to it all, but I would also argue that this transformation is a good thing. Literature still 'fragments' the readers with their different reading and interpretations of the text but that leads to the diversity of recreations in different media that they then can host on the internet.
Fin!
Your ship's come in
There is some really pretty shipping art out there! You definitely have to look for it though.
Sturgeon's Law, right?
The titles of these last three posts contain the links to where I found the art.
A PG version of that last picture
PS: Be thankful I did not share the too-graphic pencil drawing I found of this shipping. Carrie is now scarred for life. Or at least the rest of the night.
Harry P. on Second L.
The rumours are true. It is now possible for anybody to visit Diagon Alley or Hogwarts Castle.. If they are a computer-rendered avatar in Second Life. That's right, Hogwarts is a searchable location in the Second Life world for fans to come together to break down geography and barriers even more than before. That is, if you understand how to control yourself in the virtual world. Alas, it was difficult for a poor nOOb like myself who found Diagon Alley after a little effort. When you first transport into the SecondLife world of Harry Potter you have the chance to get sorted by a conveniently located sorting hat. Except, I couldn't figure out how to do that. Then, you can wander around the wizarding shopping alley and buy... capes or magic wands. The whole "alleyway" kind of looked like a marketplace in Aladdin actually. So that was a bit strange. A conversation with another Harry Potter fan went like this: "Do you like Harry Potter?" to a brief: "Uhhh... I'm sitting in a Harry Potter sim. That's a pretty obvious answer." Touché Salores Ghia whose avatar looks a bit like a skunk with an elf face! After trying to find Hogwarts Castle I was unsuccessful and my computer was beginning to lag and glitch. In any case, the Harry Potter world has entered Second Life so fans have even more ways to connect with each other. If connecting to the internet involved wearing goggles imagine how much more real it would feel! Perhaps someone will invent that technology soon.
Ships Ahoy
So, as I was saying, I've come across HP things and not always known what was going on... when I first saw this image (which I think is gorgeous!) my reaction was "Do they really do that in Harry Potter? No ... do they?" Yes, I get it, Photoshop, shipping, I understand now. [For those who are not so familiar with fanfic, as I was not before this course, shipping involves a romantic pairing in fan fiction which may or may not be evident in the original work. As you may have guessed, this one is decidedly not canon.] There is a lot of fan art out there supporting different shippings. Some is better than others, some much more graphic than others! Oh, the things you can find on the internet these days. Or, always...
Oh my, Harry, I never knew!
Wow, hi there Harry, you've done some growing up since I last saw you...
I saw this and thought I missed something important in the whole Harry Potter universe, but this is for the play Equus, which I still haven't seen or studied, but I think it's about time I did.
Having only read the first book and watched the first movie (of Harry Potter), at least that I remember, I often find myself in the dark when people talk Harry Potter or I come across something on the net...but more on that to come.
Interview with a BETA
After what seemed like a LOT of effort, I finally successfully contacted someone involved with writing/editing fan fiction. I asked her some brief questions and here are her responses:
Sorry it's all in this one blog making it really long, I don't know how to make it smaller or whatever....
-What does a Beta do?
A beta is someone the corrects other authors work. I am a beta and what basically happens is an author send me their work, I go through it and make corrections, fix sentences etc, and make suggestions on how the work could improve.
-Do you write fan fiction?
I do, I actually have a story in que right now, so hopefully it will be approved.
-Do you feel like it is abused in any way?
Personally, I don't think so, I think it is a really great creative outlet for people. I mean, we all have our preferences so it is great that there is such a diverse group of people on sites like this.
-What can go wrong with fanfiction?
Well a lot of people try to write stories and submit them without getting a beta to look over it. That is a huge mistake! The site wont accept anything that has a lot of errors, and no body wants to read things like that anyway. Also if you don't have a good plot, your screwed. People are going to get through your story and hope that it gets better, but a lot of times, stories are very disappointing. Another problem is when people try to use characters that JK Rowling has already created, and they make them unbelievable in their story. I mean, would Gunny really get a sex change opperation? Or would Harry really marry Voldermort?
-Do you think fanfiction has any negative impact on the original publishing?
No I don't, I think it is a huge compliment to the original author that so many people love her stories enough to adapt them. I mean, fan fics are huge! How cool would it be to be an author and see how many people love your stories and characters to the point that they wont let them go?
-How about any positive?
Like I said in the previous question, I think it is a huge compliment to the author. It is also a great think because it gets more people reading, and allows people to write. There are very few outlets for creative writers, especially ones that want to elaborate on a story that has already been published. It also give people the chance to change the out come f things, and step into a whole new version of fantasy.
-Have you encountered copyright problems?
I have not. The trick is to put a disclaimer on every chapter of every story you do. Say something like you are just borrowing these characters to play with, and you are not making any money off of your work, and of course that no copyright infringement is intended. That usually helps. But also, don't plagiarize, that is one of the biggest and most moronic mistakes you can make.
-Do you think fanfiction adds or detracts from the original material? Both? Can you explain?
I really think it adds. I mean, it gives people a chance to see a story from every possible angle every imagined. That is really great. Also it makes people want to read the original work to see what has caused so many people to write about it.
-How do you think fanfiction differs from "regular" fiction?
Well first of all, when fan fics are written, they are an adaptation of an original work. Most original works are exactly that, original. And even fictions that take on aspects of other works don't have many of the same characters in the same world with the same lives.
What I find most interesting is her answers to whether fanfiction is positive/negative. Obviously somebody incredibly involved in the fanfiction world is not going to see any/much negative aspect of it, but I think she really brings up a good point. I think fanfiction is a sort of "ultimate compliment" to an author. Also, the fact that people are serious enough about fanfiction that they submit/spend ALOT of time editing their work makes it apparent that fanfiction is not merely a fun past-time for many. It is almost like a job.
Sorry it's all in this one blog making it really long, I don't know how to make it smaller or whatever....
-What does a Beta do?
A beta is someone the corrects other authors work. I am a beta and what basically happens is an author send me their work, I go through it and make corrections, fix sentences etc, and make suggestions on how the work could improve.
-Do you write fan fiction?
I do, I actually have a story in que right now, so hopefully it will be approved.
-Do you feel like it is abused in any way?
Personally, I don't think so, I think it is a really great creative outlet for people. I mean, we all have our preferences so it is great that there is such a diverse group of people on sites like this.
-What can go wrong with fanfiction?
Well a lot of people try to write stories and submit them without getting a beta to look over it. That is a huge mistake! The site wont accept anything that has a lot of errors, and no body wants to read things like that anyway. Also if you don't have a good plot, your screwed. People are going to get through your story and hope that it gets better, but a lot of times, stories are very disappointing. Another problem is when people try to use characters that JK Rowling has already created, and they make them unbelievable in their story. I mean, would Gunny really get a sex change opperation? Or would Harry really marry Voldermort?
-Do you think fanfiction has any negative impact on the original publishing?
No I don't, I think it is a huge compliment to the original author that so many people love her stories enough to adapt them. I mean, fan fics are huge! How cool would it be to be an author and see how many people love your stories and characters to the point that they wont let them go?
-How about any positive?
Like I said in the previous question, I think it is a huge compliment to the author. It is also a great think because it gets more people reading, and allows people to write. There are very few outlets for creative writers, especially ones that want to elaborate on a story that has already been published. It also give people the chance to change the out come f things, and step into a whole new version of fantasy.
-Have you encountered copyright problems?
I have not. The trick is to put a disclaimer on every chapter of every story you do. Say something like you are just borrowing these characters to play with, and you are not making any money off of your work, and of course that no copyright infringement is intended. That usually helps. But also, don't plagiarize, that is one of the biggest and most moronic mistakes you can make.
-Do you think fanfiction adds or detracts from the original material? Both? Can you explain?
I really think it adds. I mean, it gives people a chance to see a story from every possible angle every imagined. That is really great. Also it makes people want to read the original work to see what has caused so many people to write about it.
-How do you think fanfiction differs from "regular" fiction?
Well first of all, when fan fics are written, they are an adaptation of an original work. Most original works are exactly that, original. And even fictions that take on aspects of other works don't have many of the same characters in the same world with the same lives.
What I find most interesting is her answers to whether fanfiction is positive/negative. Obviously somebody incredibly involved in the fanfiction world is not going to see any/much negative aspect of it, but I think she really brings up a good point. I think fanfiction is a sort of "ultimate compliment" to an author. Also, the fact that people are serious enough about fanfiction that they submit/spend ALOT of time editing their work makes it apparent that fanfiction is not merely a fun past-time for many. It is almost like a job.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Breakdown of Geography: side-note
[In response, or addition to, Carrie's post]
The lexicon I just posted about is also breaking down language, and therefor geographical, boundaries. The internet, and therefor the lexicon, is accessible anywhere in the world that there is internet, however not everyone reads English. But people of the world rejoice! The lexicon has authorized sister sites in French and Spanish, with Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese and Russian coming soon! Woohoo!
The lexicon I just posted about is also breaking down language, and therefor geographical, boundaries. The internet, and therefor the lexicon, is accessible anywhere in the world that there is internet, however not everyone reads English. But people of the world rejoice! The lexicon has authorized sister sites in French and Spanish, with Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese and Russian coming soon! Woohoo!
G'day Mate, or: A Breakdown of Geography
A concept that Virilio highlights in The Information Bomb is that "globalism illustrates the victory of free enterprise over totalitarian collectivism is to understand nothing of the current loss of time intervals, the endless feedback, the telescoping of industrial or post-industrial activities" (8). The distances and geography are breaking up... Dense. Intense. Virilio.I think though, that fanfiction is really a good gathering place for people of all walks of life to converge over a certain love of one thing: writing about Harry Potter having sex. No! I mean.. Fan fiction allows for a group of dedicated writers and readers to join together in a common bond. It doesn't matter where each of these people are from because the Internet has broken down geography so that a person from Australia can chat with someone up in the Yukon INSTANTLY. Well, if they had strange sleeping patterns. At any given time someone can write a fan fiction, post it, and instantly somebody else can provide feedback. The world is growing smaller and smaller. With the translation of popular texts into many different languages as well, even more people can connect and discuss. The endless feedback also comes from the comments and reviews people leave on the fanfic they read. Often it is short and unhelpful, but other times reviews can mean a world of difference. More on that later..
Harry Potter: The Last Battle
I've had this article (linked in this post's title) bookmarked for awhile. I believe I first found it through the Vancouver International Writers Festival Book News newsletter I receive through e-mail every month or so (I think? I don't keep track). It seems that Harry Potter's creator, JK Rowling, can't quite decide what she thinks of fan fiction, and other fan activities. The article is about the Harry Potter Lexicon. The is an attempt to keep track of information pertaining to the Harry Potter books and movies. Apparently everyone's been using it, from fans and students reading the books in class to Warner Brothers (they made the HP movies) and Rowling herself. However, trouble started brewing after Steve Vander Ark, who started the site, started working on getting the Lexicon published as a book. I won't summarize the whole debate, as that would only be reiterating the article, which you can check out for yourselves.
Ms Rowling seems to be a bit possessive. She likes fans to engage with her work, but only so much, in a certain way. Only enough to get them hooked on the franchise (oh, I'm sorry, that was judgmental and jaded. Well, such is life.). I can see that she might be upset if she were truly working on her own lexicon, as she claims, and she is therefor afraid that this fan lexicon will infringe on her upcoming work. However, the argument seems to be, from what this article says, that the lexicon is only "reorganizing" Rowling's work, and that it is therefor not original, and is therefor a copyright infringement and should not be published. I fail to see how Rowling could allow and even use and endorse the website but now turn around and claim that's it's a copyright infringement yada yada in print form. Hi, JK? You can't have your cake and eat it too. Same goes for lexicons.
Ms Rowling seems to be a bit possessive. She likes fans to engage with her work, but only so much, in a certain way. Only enough to get them hooked on the franchise (oh, I'm sorry, that was judgmental and jaded. Well, such is life.). I can see that she might be upset if she were truly working on her own lexicon, as she claims, and she is therefor afraid that this fan lexicon will infringe on her upcoming work. However, the argument seems to be, from what this article says, that the lexicon is only "reorganizing" Rowling's work, and that it is therefor not original, and is therefor a copyright infringement and should not be published. I fail to see how Rowling could allow and even use and endorse the website but now turn around and claim that's it's a copyright infringement yada yada in print form. Hi, JK? You can't have your cake and eat it too. Same goes for lexicons.
"Helpful" Tutorials
Should you want to write a fan fiction on Harry Potter but have no idea how to start, there is a helpful list of tutorials at this website: http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/viewuser.php?showuid=25357. One example of the tutorials (which are admittably a bit strange) centres around how to go about incorporating sexual assault, child abuse and spousal abuse into your writing. Of course, these subjects are not directly allowed to be used. What is permitted is allusions to the events. Other tutorials include "Mature rape reference tutorial" and "Mature Cutting scene tutorial". This begs the question, is fan fiction going too far? Taking the basic concepts of Harry Potter and infiltrating the innocence with sex, rape, abuse, and profanity is a bit absurd. Even in the name of creativity.
Fooled! Hoodwinked!
I was trying to think of a witty Harry Potter themed pun for the title , but evidently I didn't come up with one. Maybe if I'd read more of the books...
In any case, there was much hoopla over at http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/ for April Fool's day this year. My group-mate and I were both very confused when we visited the site the night before the first only to find the regular web-site replaced by something new. The homepage had been replaced with "HP Shippers Unite," bearing an image of a cork board and a notice that the site would only be accepting stories which featured a relationship between either Sirius and Lily or Harry Potter and Cho. Many, or most, of the stories previously hosted on the site were inaccessible. There was outrage, as you can imagine. The forums were on fire. Everyone had something to say about the drastic changes being made. There was a podcast from the angry staffers that were striking over the change. Apparently some people were so upset that their volatile reactions (e-mails and the like sent to the website's admins) caused them to be banned from the site. Temper temper! Much to everyone's relief, I'm sure, the site has been restored to it's usual self. Those that sent angry e-mails are doubtlessly lolling about in front of their computers, ruing their calendar ineptitude...
This whole episode shows what a cool medium the internet is. Look at all of this interaction! People interacting with the internet, the website, each-other... it's a big party...of interaction. In this sense, books are a much hotter medium than the internet. There just doesn't seem to be the potential for anything close to this sort of interaction with books as there is with the internet.
Other April-foolery, non fanfic related, going on this year included Questionable Content, xkcd and Qwantz all switching websites with each-other. Fun link chasing ensued to find my favourite comics. There were some upset, confused and worried people all over that one too. In Jeph, QC's creator's, words, " Jeez people come on it was APRIL FIRST." [via Twitter. I am getting too entwined on the net.]
In any case, there was much hoopla over at http://www.harrypotterfanfiction.com/ for April Fool's day this year. My group-mate and I were both very confused when we visited the site the night before the first only to find the regular web-site replaced by something new. The homepage had been replaced with "HP Shippers Unite," bearing an image of a cork board and a notice that the site would only be accepting stories which featured a relationship between either Sirius and Lily or Harry Potter and Cho. Many, or most, of the stories previously hosted on the site were inaccessible. There was outrage, as you can imagine. The forums were on fire. Everyone had something to say about the drastic changes being made. There was a podcast from the angry staffers that were striking over the change. Apparently some people were so upset that their volatile reactions (e-mails and the like sent to the website's admins) caused them to be banned from the site. Temper temper! Much to everyone's relief, I'm sure, the site has been restored to it's usual self. Those that sent angry e-mails are doubtlessly lolling about in front of their computers, ruing their calendar ineptitude...
This whole episode shows what a cool medium the internet is. Look at all of this interaction! People interacting with the internet, the website, each-other... it's a big party...of interaction. In this sense, books are a much hotter medium than the internet. There just doesn't seem to be the potential for anything close to this sort of interaction with books as there is with the internet.
Other April-foolery, non fanfic related, going on this year included Questionable Content, xkcd and Qwantz all switching websites with each-other. Fun link chasing ensued to find my favourite comics. There were some upset, confused and worried people all over that one too. In Jeph, QC's creator's, words, " Jeez people come on it was APRIL FIRST." [via Twitter. I am getting too entwined on the net.]
Sounds like fanfiction!
Check this out! It's a band that writes and plays music around the Harry Potter series, and they're not that shabby!
Personally, I'm all about their song "firebolt." it's got this really catchy sort of organ to it that just makes me want to dance about...
Okay, I'm done that now.
So what do we do with fiction-turned-music? Well, McLuhan would definitely say that there's been a transition from a hot medium (literature) into a much cooler medium (music) to which everyone can dance too! (tribal drum beat dance party!)
I'm butchering McLuhan.
Or am I just explaining theory in an accessible manner? Only our mark will tell!!!
Personally, I'm all about their song "firebolt." it's got this really catchy sort of organ to it that just makes me want to dance about...
Okay, I'm done that now.
So what do we do with fiction-turned-music? Well, McLuhan would definitely say that there's been a transition from a hot medium (literature) into a much cooler medium (music) to which everyone can dance too! (tribal drum beat dance party!)
I'm butchering McLuhan.
Or am I just explaining theory in an accessible manner? Only our mark will tell!!!
Interview with a Reader: Part 3 (finale)
And here's the last part of our interview!
My haven't I learned a fancy new trick!
Our reader (ashamedly, my sister) brought to light many interesting aspects of reading fanfiction that I had never thought about before! I did not know you had to go through such a rigorous process in order to get your work published! and that's only on a website.
I am slightly intrigued by these different media forms of fanfiction and I'll be blogging (ridiculously) soon about them.
Hope you liked the interview!
Ian
My haven't I learned a fancy new trick!
Our reader (ashamedly, my sister) brought to light many interesting aspects of reading fanfiction that I had never thought about before! I did not know you had to go through such a rigorous process in order to get your work published! and that's only on a website.
I am slightly intrigued by these different media forms of fanfiction and I'll be blogging (ridiculously) soon about them.
Hope you liked the interview!
Ian
Interview with a Reader: Part 2
I'm sorry that the link takes you to a retarded filesharing site. Either way, it should work if you have a program that can play audio files such as iTunes.
Here's part 2:
http://www.box.net/shared/nhsu9xhs8k
Here's part 2:
http://www.box.net/shared/nhsu9xhs8k
Interview with a Reader: Part 1
Hey there! Soooo we're really really behind in our blogging project but this is mainly due the difficulty of our subjects: We're interviewing a fanfiction reader, a writer, and a webmaster of a fanfiction website! Though at this point, I think we only have the reader interviewed...
Here's part one of the interview I did with our avid reader. There's two other parts on the way. If you're wondering how we recorded this, it was by Skype! Skype is an internet videophone system that allows you to call someone else's computer and chat to them! The great thing about it is that it doesn't cost any long distance fees (it's all on the internet and is sort of a more sophisticated version of instant messaging). So our interview was over Skype, but my interviewee was actually over in the room beside me while we were talking. It was quite odd not being able to see the person you were asking questions to but knowing (and hearing) that they were right in the room beside you! How very transhorizon of us. Did I just butcher that word? Yes, yes I did. But I digress.
The interview:
http://www.box.net/shared/kzb8u54ysw
Edit: ah the joys of the internet. Apparently I have to link this in from a newly created filespace program. Chances are that it won't be up for very long.. a month at most. Um, I hope it works?
Here's part one of the interview I did with our avid reader. There's two other parts on the way. If you're wondering how we recorded this, it was by Skype! Skype is an internet videophone system that allows you to call someone else's computer and chat to them! The great thing about it is that it doesn't cost any long distance fees (it's all on the internet and is sort of a more sophisticated version of instant messaging). So our interview was over Skype, but my interviewee was actually over in the room beside me while we were talking. It was quite odd not being able to see the person you were asking questions to but knowing (and hearing) that they were right in the room beside you! How very transhorizon of us. Did I just butcher that word? Yes, yes I did. But I digress.
The interview:
http://www.box.net/shared/kzb8u54ysw
Edit: ah the joys of the internet. Apparently I have to link this in from a newly created filespace program. Chances are that it won't be up for very long.. a month at most. Um, I hope it works?
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