Ryan Broderick: My Immortal - The Best and Worst Fan Fiction on the Internet

Talk summary and resources created by Alex Turvy.

Talk Summary:
Garbage Day writer Ryan Broderick takes a deep dive into the mystery of the most infamous fan fiction of all-time: My Immortal.

Key Insights and Questions:

• Fan fiction fundamentally challenges normative ideas about authorship, style, intellectual property.

• Does the Internet still have subcultural pockets that allow participatory fandom and creativity in the same ways?

• Has a more centralized Internet decreased the likelihood for these communities to arise and thrive?

Talk Notes & Related Resources:

• 'My Immortal' -- link to the fanfic in question

• Deconstructing My Immortal: Democracy and Accessibility in Fanfiction

  • “Henry Jenkins, in his book Textual Poachers (1992), discusses how fan magazines often had to choose between “’professionalism’ (the development of high technical standards and the showcasing accomplishments) of and remarkable ‘acceptance’ (openness and accessibility for new and inexperienced writers)” with the magazines often leaning towards “acceptance” in order to “[represent] the fledgling efforts of new fans” (Jenkins 159). Interestingly, acceptance in this context does not refer to acceptance as something to be gained by traditional publishing sources or mainstream society, but rather from fans themselves, displaying the power and importance of the fan community.”

• Homosexuality at the Online Hogwarts: Harry Potter Slash Fanfiction

  • What is 'slash' fanfic?

• Barthes, ‘The Death of the Author’

  • Foundational text in post-structuralism

  • Deconstructing the ‘Author-god’ and bringing the reader power both within and over the work

  • Sets the stage for fanfic

• "Fanfiction and the Author: How Fanfic Changes Popular Cultural Texts"

  • Open-Access book

• The author in the postinternet age: Fan works, authorial function, and the archive