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browngirlA professor at George Washington University is teaching a course called 'Get a Life!: ‘Shippers, Slashers, and Other Media Fans'. As part of this course, students "will also become a participant-observer of an internet fan fiction community (e.g., Full Metal Alchemist or Lord of the Rings)"
While it sounds as if this course is addressing some issues I personally find fascinating, I don't know if I think this is such a great idea, an influx of people joining fandoms just to study them without having any love for them. Especially because of the attitude reflected in the course description:
"And what about those troublesome fans who use some preexisting story as the springboard for their own stories or art: are they authors in their own right, or thieves, or pathetic parasites? How do we compare a fan novella drawing on characters from the Harry Potter universe to such a work as Jean Rhys's critically-acclaimed Wide Sargasso Sea, which rewords the characters of Jane Eyre? These questions will lead us to larger philosophical mysteries, such as the line between knock-off and clever adaptation, or between copyright violation, plagiarism, and scholarly citation. "
So I find this a little alarming. What do you all think?
While it sounds as if this course is addressing some issues I personally find fascinating, I don't know if I think this is such a great idea, an influx of people joining fandoms just to study them without having any love for them. Especially because of the attitude reflected in the course description:
"And what about those troublesome fans who use some preexisting story as the springboard for their own stories or art: are they authors in their own right, or thieves, or pathetic parasites? How do we compare a fan novella drawing on characters from the Harry Potter universe to such a work as Jean Rhys's critically-acclaimed Wide Sargasso Sea, which rewords the characters of Jane Eyre? These questions will lead us to larger philosophical mysteries, such as the line between knock-off and clever adaptation, or between copyright violation, plagiarism, and scholarly citation. "
So I find this a little alarming. What do you all think?
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Date: 2005-10-08 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-09 10:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-09 10:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-09 11:04 am (UTC)I'll not find you the link.
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Date: 2005-10-09 02:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-09 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-09 02:28 pm (UTC)Did you find the one by IIRC anamuensuis1 (sp?) That was the one I really liked.
I can find the link for you, I think, if you would like.
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Date: 2005-10-09 06:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-09 06:20 pm (UTC)I found myself rereading amanuensis1's Gill/Nemo fic today. And then I read the comments again, and was bitten by a Scar/Simba bunny. ARGH.