Week 8 - Scholarly Article

For the first assessment in this course we were required to formulate a thesis around a learning pack we had studied for an essay. I chose Learning Pack A – Youth and Popular Culture because it was the most interesting to me. I wanted to know why a large number of young people liked to spend time online and whether or not that time spent online was productive educationally. In my research for the essay I came across a number of articles, however, it was one by Angela Thomas of the University of Sydney that caught my attention.

The article Fan fiction online: Engagement, critical response and affective play through writing, discusses fan fiction specifically in relation to teenage girls and how they interact with each other online. For those unfamiliar with the concept of fan-fiction, Thomas describes it as:

“Borrowing settings, plots, characters and ideas from all forms of media and popular culture, fans weave together new tales, sometimes within the accepted canon, sometimes blending several ideas from different sources together in a type of fiction called 'Crossovers', and sometimes imagining new possibilities for additional characters, different histories or different settings to build on existing stories, called 'Alternative Universe' fiction.” (Thomas, 2006, p.226).

For more information and to see examples of fan-fiction, please click HERE
Fan-fiction provides writers (of any age) the ability to engage with their popular interests and develop their writing skills. If a person is a fan of Harry Potter they are able to write a specific fan-fiction. They can do this by creating their own character and inserting it into the world of Harry Potter or they can use an existing character from the Harry Potter universe. When I was younger I was heavily involved in the online world of fan-fiction. This article somewhat validated the feelings I had in regards to just how much engaging in writing and critiquing the work of others improved my literacy skills.

Image Credit: www.publicdomainpictures.net

The article is separated into five main parts: the social practices of fan-fiction, fictional role-playing and collaborative writing, transforming texts, fan-fiction as a means for critical response to texts, and fan-fiction as identity play. I don't want to go into detail describing the article, what I do want to do however is to draw attention to the fact that much of the skills I developed as a writer and critical thinker were developed organically. I was so engrossed in the world of Harry Potter I wanted to become part of it and that is how I found fan-fiction.

As teachers and librarians I think we need to be aware of the way young people are engaging not only with pop-culture but with the online world. I believe fan-fiction and other collaborative writing activities like text-based role-playing are beneficial to teenagers because they learn through play. The article by Angela Thomas provides a great introduction to the world of fan-fiction, I'm excited to see what other research is forthcoming.

Reference List
 
Thomas, Angela. Fan Fiction Online: Engagement, Critical Response and Affective Play through Writing [online]. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 29(3), 226-239. Retrieved from: http://search.informit.com.au.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=250482439837148;res=IELHSS