Misanko1

JamieMisanko
ProfessorBranson
WRIT2
29April2016
DiscourseandGenreandLemons,OhMy!
PartI
Haveyoueverwatchedthefinaletoatelevisionseriesorafilmanddislikedhowitended?
Haveyouevercursedtheheavensabovebecausethosetwocharactersdidntkiss?Ormaybeyou
wereupsetbecausethey
did
kisswhentheyshouldn'thave?Haveyoueverjustonceasked
yourself,Whatifthishappenedinstead?Ifyouanswere
dYes!toanyofthe
sequestions,
yourenotalone.Infact,theonlinefanfictioncommunityisentirelydevotedtosuch
imaginativefanswondering,Whatif?Definedasfictionwrittenbyafanof,andfeaturing
charactersfrom,aparticularTVshow,movie,book,etc,
fan
fictionisnotonlyafacetof
popularculture,butitscommunityalsoqualifiesasadiscoursecommunitysinceitfulfillsJohn
Swalesssixdefiningcharacteristics:sharedgoals,meansinwhichtocommunicateandprovide
informationandfeedback,possessionofatleastonegenre,employmentofspecificterminology,
andabalancedratioofnoviceandexpertmembers.
AccordingtoSwales,thefirstcharacteristicofadiscoursecommunityisabroadlyagreed
setofgoals(471).Oneofthemostpopularhostsofonlinefanfictionis
ArchiveOfOurOwn.org
,
colloquiallyknownasAO3.Asstatedbythewebsiteshomepage,AO3smissionistoserve
fansbypreservingandencouragingtransformativefanactivity,otherwiseknownasfanwork,
andbymakingfanworkwidelyaccessible.AO3alsobelievesthatfanworksaretransformative


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andthattransformativeworksarelegitimate.Fanfictionitselfisadisputedtopic,forsomeview
itasaformofpoorlywrittenplagiarismandabutcheringofthecanonwork,whereasothers,
suchasAO3,considerfanfictiontobeaharmlesshobbythatfosterscreativityandevenpays
homagetotheoriginalworkscreator(s).
Thesecondcharacteristicofadiscoursecommunityisthepossessionofmechanismsof
intercommunication(Swales472).AO3hasanewsletterreleasedeachTuesdaycalledThis
WeekinFandomwhichrecapseventsthatoccurredinthelastsevendayswithinthe
entertainmentindustry.Thesitealsosendsamonthlynewslettertomembers,informingthemof
websiteupdatesandnewmilestonesinmembercount.Moreover,AO3utilizesvarioussocial
mediaplatforms,suchasTwitter,inordertopromptdiscussionbyaskingformembersinputon
aparticulartopic,suchastheirfavoritefandomtowriteaboutortheiropiniononacertain
character.Additionally,authorsoffanfictioncreateblogsinordertointeractwiththeirreaders
andprovidethemwithexclusiveextrastotheirstories,liketeasersforupcomingchapters.
However,unlikemostfanfictionwebsites,AO3doesnothaveadiscussionpageoraforum,
muchtomembersdisappointment.Nonetheless,usersbypassthishindranceandfindmeansto
communicatewitheachother,notablythroughtheuseofparticipatorymechanismsinorderto
provideinformationandfeedback,satisfyingthethirdcriteriaofadiscoursecommunity
(Swales472).IfareaderisenjoyingastoryonAO3,forexample,theycanchoosetoclickthe
Subscribebutton
(
andelect
)
toreceiveemailswhenevertheauthoraddsnewchapters.
Likewise,attheendofeachchapterisacommentsectionwherereaderscanoffertheircriticisms
andencouragementstotheauthor.Besidesjustreadingthestories,readersoffanfictionreview


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themaswell,becomingactiveprovidersoffeedbackasopposedtopassiveabsorbersofwords
onascreen.
Fourthly,adiscoursecommunitymustutilizeandhencepossessoneormoregenres
(Swales472).Agenre,inthiscase,isanytextthatservestorespondtoanyrecurringrhetorical
situation.Severalgenresexistwithintheonlinefanfictioncommunity,suchasthewebsites
weeklynewsletterandthefanfictionstoriesthemselves.AO3snewslettersrespondtomembers
needforinformationregardingcurrentevents.Similarly,fanfictionstoriesarearesponsetothe
existenceofvariousfandoms,suchas
DoctorWho
and
GameofThrones
.Astoryscomment
sectionalsoactsasagenrebecausefanfictionwritersarealwaysinneedofconstructive
criticism.Byreviewingstoriesinthecomments,readersareabletopointoutthestrengthsand
weaknessesoftheauthorswriting.Furthergenreanalysisofthereviewsectionwilltakeplacein
partII.
Thefifthaspectofadiscoursecommunityistheacquisitionofsomespecificlexis
(Swales473).Withinthefanfictioncommunity,thereexistsuniversalterminology,whichis
characteristicofanyfanfiction,andterminologythatisspecifictostorieswithinaparticular
fandom.GenericterminologyconsistsoftermssuchasWIP(WorkinProgress),AU(Alternate
Universe),fluff(astorythatcontainsnoplot,justhumorousorromanticcontent),andlemon(a
storythatcontainsexplicitsexualcontent).Themorespecificlexicondependsonthefandom.
Forexample,tagsinthe
HarryPotter
archiveofAO3consistofships,whichisslangfor
relationships,bycombiningtwocharactersnamestogetherBrangelinastyle,likeRomione
(RonWeasleyandHermioneGranger)orDrarry(DracoMalfoyandHarryPotter).Sometags
indicatethattheauthorisalteringacharacterscanonoriginstory,likethe


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Pureblood!Hermionetag,inwhichHermioneGrangerisbornwithmagicalparentsinstead
nonmagical,orMuggleones.Anyoneunfamiliarwiththe
HarryPotter
franchisemaybelost
inthisparticulararchive,butanyoneunfamiliarwithfanfictioningeneralwillnotunderstand
suchspecificlexicon.Tothem,alemonisjustasourfruit,notawarningthatastoryissuitable
foradulteyesonly.
Finally,adiscoursecommunitymusthaveabalancedratioofnoviceandexpertmembers
(Swales473).AO3wasestablishedin2007,andcurrentlyhas827,500usersand2,224,000
works,numbersthatcontinuetogrowdaily.Coupledwithveteranmemberswhohavebeenon
thesitesinceitsinceptionnearlyadecadeago,newmemberscontinuetojoinandwritestories.
Thesenewmembersareguidedbytheexpertsastohowtowriteeffectivelyanduniquelyvia
reviewsandpersonalmessages.Newmembersarealsoattractedtofanfictionsitesasnew
fandomsandnewfilminstallmentsareintroduced.Forexample,
StarWars:TheForceAwakens,
releasedinDecemberof2015,doubledtheamountof
StarWars
fictiononAO3(Kornhaber).As
longasthereexistscontenttobasewritingoffof,thefanfictioncommunitywillcontinueto
thrive.
Inadditiontobeingadiscoursecommunity,thefanfictioncommunityalsousesseveral
formsofliteracy,bothinthetraditionalsenseofthewordandnot.Whilewritingfanfictionis
seeminglyallforfun,itcanalsoserveanacademicpurpose.AuthorNeilGaimanbelievesthat
allwritingisusefulforhoningwritingskills,andevenlikenswritingfanfictiontobeingthe
trainingwheelsforanaspiringwriter(Journal).OnAO3andotherfanfictionwebsites,
authorstypicallyhavebetareaders,thosewhoproofreadandcritiquetheworkbeforeitis
releasedforpublicconsumption.Abetareadernotonlyimproveselementssuchasspellingand


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grammar,butalsoaimstoimprovethestoryandensurethatthereiscontinuity.However,agood
fanfictionwritermustalsopossesssomethingotherthananinthgradelevelofliteracy,as
TonyMirabelliclaimsinhisessaytitledLearningtoServe(149).Thewritermustbeableto
readthecharactertheyarewritingabout.Forexample,inordertowrite
StarWars
fanfiction
well,onemustbeabletoanalyzeHanSoloorLeiaOrganaastheyareportrayedinthefilmsin
ordertoachievecorrectcharacterization,whetheritbestudyinghowtheymove,withgraceor
swagger,theirfacialexpressions,orthetoneofvoicetheyprimarilyspeakin.Asignofgreatfan
fictionisonethatdoesntfeellikefanfictionatall.