The Paratext of Fan Fiction

The article appropriates and extends Gérard Genette’s delineation of paratext in analyses of fan fiction, highlighting media specificity, authoring functions, and altered reading habits following new modes of textual production. Online-published, pseudonymously authored fan fictions, starting from a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Narrative (Columbus, Ohio) Ohio), 2015-01, Vol.23 (1), p.40-60
Main Author: Leavenworth, Maria Lindgren
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptations
authoring functions
epitext
Fan fiction
Gérard Genette
Harris, Charlaine
History and criticism
Literature
litteraturvetenskap
online publishing
Paratext
peritext
reader feedback
True blood (Television program)
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Summary:The article appropriates and extends Gérard Genette’s delineation of paratext in analyses of fan fiction, highlighting media specificity, authoring functions, and altered reading habits following new modes of textual production. Online-published, pseudonymously authored fan fictions, starting from an already existing fictional text and therefore overtly intertextual, represent an intermediary stage between print literature and complex, often multimodal, contemporary hypertexts. Through a case study, the article examines paratextual features such as filing options, tags, Author Notes, and an epitextual conversation between the fanfic author and her readers. Many of these features are particular to modes of online publishing and the fanfic text form and fulfill functions which differentiate them from paratexts in printed forms of literature. A thorough analysis of them contributes to a general understanding of the nature and function of the paratext and specifically provides insights into how it can help readers navigate the text form of fan fiction along with the specific affordances of the online creative environment.
ISSN:1063-3685
1538-974X
1538-974X
DOI:10.1353/nar.2015.0004