Popular Culture Assessment 3: Essay Elizabeth Cooper 203 656

The Rise of the Fan Fiction Pop Culture Trend and Its affect on Literature: Case Study-50 Shades of Grey

The Rise of the Fan Fiction Pop Culture Trend and Its affect on

Literature: Case Study-50 Shades of Grey

The technological age, specifically the internet, posed many challenges to traditional entertainment media. As television and film have had to adapt in order to make the most of this new communicational medium, it could have spelt the end of novel-based fandom as literature did not have the same interactivity that the internet provided (Miller, 2011). As a result the popular culture trend of fan-fiction, where fans of famous literature share their creative takes on the stories, has spelt a new interactive age for the traditional bookbased entertainment. The success of 50 shades of Grey is a key example in the rise of fandom as a legitimate part of a novels commercial life and it is having a profound impact on the interactivity, marketing and future of visual and written literature. The history of fan fiction goes a long way in understanding the trend and predicting its future in the popular culture sphere, as well as understanding 50 Shades of Greys beginnings. It has often been argued that fan fiction dates back to the Bible, with the different amateur writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John being considered fan fictions based on the life of Jesus (Morrison, 2012). However a more appropriate definition of fan fiction as " stories involving popular fictional characters that are written by fans " means that fan fiction could not have existed until the 18th century when authorship became an actuality (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2013). Fan fiction has culturally been around for many years, often in parody form such as the spin-offs from Lewis Carol's novel Alice in Wonderland, there was also an extensive fan fiction world surrounding the Sherlock

Holmes stories in the 1880s. However the trend really found its feet in the scifi genre with Star Trek fans in the 1960s (Verba, 2003). Many fan fiction works were published in various magazines and sold at sci-fi conventions and they contributed to the cult-like fanaticism that the series received and still continues to receive. With the advent of consumer accessible internet around 1994/95, fan fiction became an internet phenomenon with nearly all major fictional works; literary, visual or otherwise, being represented on interactive forums (Hellekson, 2006). It has been estimated that a third of all internet activity on fictional works was fan fiction. Genres range from parody to pornography, with sexual relationships between existing characters being highly popular. As Morrison writes in his famous Guardian article "There is a dark sexual undercurrent to the majority of fanfic" which he attributes to fans wanting to regain control over the characters in the works they create. As a result of this, it is not surprising that the next step in fan fictions history occurred through a BDSM fanfic based on Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. 50 Shades of Grey began as an erotic fanfiction based on Twilights central characters, Edward and Bella, published episodically under the title Master of the Universe (Boog, 2012). It was initially popular, but due to its explicit nature, it had to be moved from the original websites onto a specific website so that it would not be read by fans of the tween-directed Twilight. When it moved to its own website, the fanfic was reworked, lengthened and the character names changed from Edward and Bella to Anastasia and Christian. It was also split into three volumes and renamed 50 Shades of Grey and thus became considered an original work. Whilst it could be

argued that change suspended it from the work of fan fiction, its roots maintain its place in that entertainment sphere. Having become an original work, the trilogy was published as an ebook and a by demand paperback by Writers Coffee Shop. Its word of mouth success made it a best seller, with Amazon UK publicizing that E. L James had become its best selling author with the first in the trilogy selling more copies than the entirety of the Harry Potter books through their website. Riding on the cultural trend of fan fiction, 50 Shades of Grey created its own cultural trend, Mommy Porn. As the primary market of the series was middle aged women, it became the middle aged womens Twilight, and as a plethora of vampire romance sprang from Twilight, a similar excess of BDSM novels and fanfics sprang from 50 Shades of Grey. However, more relevantly, the publication of the novel, brought fan fiction into the limelight and raised awareness of the phenomenon into everyday audiences consciousness. Its success opened the door for fan fiction to begin to play a legitimate role in marketing and literature. One of the greatest effects of the fan fiction phenomenon is its impact on the interactivity of literary fandom, resulting in the heightened fanaticism. Fandom is the creation of a common empathy and camaraderie around certain characters or works of fiction, which can often result in its own sub culture (Black, 2008). Many internet fandom worlds exist, from Bronies (My Little Pony) to Trekkies (Star Trek fans) and, of course, the Team Edward/Team Jacob fandom of Twilight. These fandom sub cultures are important in creating the fanaticism that results in the long queues to see films and buy books.

Fandom is fed by frequent stimulation. This explains why television shows and multi-installment films/novels are those that tend to attract the most fanaticism such as Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. By continually stimulating the fan base, it draws fans back into the world created by the literary work, providing more food for discussion and more information about the authors creation. Fan fiction, therefore, feeds this need for more stimulation, by producing further plot points, information and reading material set in the safety of the fictional work and releasing it into a forum format that allows for free access and further discussion. 50 Shades of Grey is a key example of the support that the Twilight community received from the fan fiction community. As Klassen showed in her Daily Beast Article, the end of the Twilight era left many in the lurch and many Twi-hards jumped ship to the similar work of E L James, 50 Shades of Grey (Klassen, 2012). Even before it became its own work, 50 Shades of Grey, like all fan fiction works, supported its parent work by further perpetuating the world of Twilight by moving the characters from the innocent tween-world to the adult BDSM world and thus creating a larger audience and more content for fans to become fanatic about (Barber, 2012). Fan fiction, therefore, allows its fans not only to continue to explore the world, but they also become a part of the world itself. In a similar way to gamers who participate in the game version of a fictional world (i.e. the Lord of The Rings games) fanfic writers play with the world of these famous works of literature. As a result of this ability of fan fiction to create fanaticism, there is a great potential for fan fiction to become a legitimate means of marketing product. Dennis, in her article about fan fictions role in marketing, discusses

the success of 50 Shades of Grey in creating word of mouth marketing and opening the world of Twilight, stating readers liked all of the graphic sex after having read about tortured sighs and wayward glances in the Twilight series for so long (Dennis, 2012). 50 Shades brought Twilight into another, older market and despite it not being EL James intention, it helped the already tunnel balling Twilight phenomenon. Similarly, in the next phase of 50 Shades commercial life, the fan fiction based on 50 Shades became in itself a marketing tool for the paperback release of the novel. Therefore, fan fiction is not just a popular culture phenomenon but also a legitimate marketing tool. The future of fan fiction literature is also called into question by 50 Shades of Grey and its resounding commercial success. Whilst initially fan fiction was purely for the love, there is now the possibility of publishing the fan fiction works as legitimate literature if the tell-tale details are rearranged. The Fanfic Symposium recently discussed the possibility of having legitimate critiquing of fan fiction (Janet, 2013) and best selling author Naomi Novak believes that fan fiction is part of literary history, being another fanfic writer turned published novelist (Newitz, 2010). Amazon similarly believes in the future of fan fiction, having proposed a new system by which fans would pay for fan fiction about works that they are fans of. Whilst a popular culture trend of fanfic published works is possible given the precedence set by 50 Shades of Grey, the possible stigma against fan fiction arising from the extensive criticism of the genre, could complicate any possibility of fan fiction becoming a legitimate part of literature . My Immortal, a Harry Potter fanfic widely considered one of the worst fan fiction works in existence is indicative of the usual criticism of fan fiction and could be the real

barrier in fan fiction being more than a cultural phenomenon (Know Your Meme, 2013). Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, massive plot holes and inexplicable sex scenes are rife in the work and due to the unedited nature of fan fiction, errors such as this that stem from the amateur writers mean that the level of writing is unlikely to be particularly good. 50 Shades of Grey received similar criticism, however, so there is a possibility that fan fiction works do have a future in then published world. There are also other complication in fan fictions future if it were to expand. There are extensive copyright issues in reworking an authors existing work, particularly if selling it is an option, and in a similar vein, there is a lack of clarity about the ownership of fan fiction works, which is causing concern with many fan fiction writers (Schwabach, 2011). Similarly, the authors of the parent works are often not particularly approving of the fan fiction practise. George RR Martin is know for forbidding fans from creating fan fictions about his series A Song of Ice and Fire from which the hit television series Game of Thrones gets its content (Patrick, 2010). This lack of consent could prove problematic legally for anyone wanting to pursue more than forum fame for their work. However, not all authors resent fanfic, as was seen with 50 Shades of Grey, where Stephanie Meyer gave it her full consent. As it stands at the moment, however, fan fiction as a forum based free service, will continue to stand as the difficulty in controlling the internet, as shown with the inability to crack down on piracy, will shelter fan fiction as long as it stays only on the internet. As a pop culture phenomenon, therefore, it is clear that fan fiction is one of the greatest sources of connectivity between fans. It provides an interaction

with other fans and the fictions world that is not afforded everywhere. The advent of the internet has flourished this pop culture trend and the success of 50 Shades of Grey has raised fan fiction into the public eye and posed interesting questions about its future as marketing tools and legitimate pieces of literature.

Reference List: Barber, J 2012 What 50 Shades Can Tell Us about Publishing The Globe and Mail Viewed: 10.6.13 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-andmedia/what-fifty-shades-of-grey-taught-us-about-publishing/article6580566/ Black, R 2008 Adolescents and Fan Fiction Peter Lang Publishing Inc. New York Boog, J 2012 The Lost History of 50 Shades of Grey Mediabistro.com Viewed: 10.6.13 Dennis, L 2012 Can Fan Fiction Be a Part of Your Book Marketing Strategy? Turndog Millionaire Viewed: 3.6.13 http://turndogmillionaire.com/2012/07/17/can-fan-fiction-be-a-part-of-yourbook-marketing-strategy/

Hellekson, K 2006 Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet McFarland Publishers Janet, 2013 Should There BE More Criticism of Fan Fiction? Fanfic symposium http://www.trickster.org/symposium/symp35.htm Klassen, 2012 The End of an era-The Twilight Saga Comes to a Close The Daily Beast Viewed: 3.6.13 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/18/the-end-of-an-era-thetwilight-saga-comes-to-a-close.html Knowyourmeme , 2013 My Immortal Memebase http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/my-immortal-the-worst-fanfiction-ever Merriam-Webster 2013 Fan Fiction Definition Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fan%20fiction Miller, L 2011 How Novels Came to Terms With the Internet The Guardian Morrison, E 2012 In the Beginning There was Fan Fiction: Four Gospels to Fifty Shades of Grey Aug 2012 Guardian UK Newitz, A 2010 Naomi Novak on Fan Fiction io9 Viewed: 10.6.13 http://io9.com/5634183/naomi-novik-says-fanfic-is-part-of-literary-history-+and-reveals-whats-next-for-temeraire Patrick, 2010 George R.R. Martin on Fan Fiction FantasyHotList Viewed: 6.6.13 http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/george-r-r-martin-on-fanfiction.html Schwabach, A 2011 Fan Fiction and Copyright Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Verba, Joan Marie (2003). Boldly Writing: A Trekker Fan & Zine History, 19671987. Minnetonka MN: FTL Publications Bibliography Barber, J 2012 What 50 Shades Can Tell Us about Publishing The Globe and Mail Viewed: 10.6.13 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-andmedia/what-fifty-shades-of-grey-taught-us-about-publishing/article6580566/ Black, R 2008 Adolescents and Fan Fiction Peter Lang Publishing Inc. New York Boog, J 2012 The Lost History of 50 Shades of Grey Mediabistro.com Viewed: 10.6.13 Dennis, L 2012 Can Fan Fiction Be a Part of Your Book Marketing Strategy? Turndog Millionaire Viewed: 3.6.13

http://turndogmillionaire.com/2012/07/17/can-fan-fiction-be-a-part-of-yourbook-marketing-strategy/ Hellekson, K 2006 Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet McFarland Publishers Jaivin, L 2013 Cheap Thrills-Fan Fiction April The Monthly Jamison, A 2013 Fic: How Fan Fiction is Taking Over the World Janet, 2013 Should There BE More Criticism of Fan Fiction? Fanfic symposium http://www.trickster.org/symposium/symp35.htm Klassen, 2012 The End of an era-The Twilight Saga Comes to a Close The Daily Beast Viewed: 3.6.13 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/18/the-end-of-an-era-thetwilight-saga-comes-to-a-close.html Knowyourmeme , 2013 My Immortal Memebase http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/my-immortal-the-worst-fanfiction-ever Merriam-Webster 2013 Fan Fiction Definition Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fan%20fiction Miller, L 2011 How Novels Came to Terms With the Internet The Guardian Morrison, E 2012 In the Beginning There was Fan Fiction: Four Gospels to Fifty Shades of Grey Aug 2012 Guardian UK Newitz, A 2010 Naomi Novak on Fan Fiction io9 Viewed: 10.6.13 http://io9.com/5634183/naomi-novik-says-fanfic-is-part-of-literary-history-+and-reveals-whats-next-for-temeraire Patrick, 2010 George R.R. Martin on Fan Fiction FantasyHotList Viewed: 6.6.13 http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/george-r-r-martin-on-fanfiction.html Schwabach, A 2011 Fan Fiction and Copyright Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Verba, Joan Marie (2003). Boldly Writing: A Trekker Fan & Zine History, 19671987. Minnetonka MN: FTL Publications

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