Dept. of something completely different

[kaffy_r]

Good Writing is Good, and Logical

I'm still glued to new programs and news sites and newspapers, trying to determine how the multiple disasters in Japan will affect the entire world - and I'm pretty certain that's going to be the case, beyond even the tremendous sorrow and heartache that Japan is experiencing now - but I tried to take a break today because it was necessary for my mental health.

I took a saunter through Live Journal as part of that break, and I ran into this excellent piece of writing from the_arc5 . She talks about her reaction to a dismissive quote about slash-oriented Lord of the Rings fan fiction. As I read it, i found myself nodding and going, "she's right." I don't read a lot of LotR fanfic*, slash or otherwise, which I realize is because I have a perhaps unhealthy awe of Tolkien and his works. As I read the_arc5 's piece, I realized, to my shame, that I'd probably incorporated some of the attitude of the speaker whose quote she examines. I found her piece a well-written reminder to me that I'm just as apt to fall prey to to illogical and biased assumptions as anyone else.


*Although this has been changing, largely because of azalaisdep 's excellent LotR fic offerings.

Comments

[azalaisdep.livejournal.com]

From the post you linked to:

The author releases his or her creation into the world, and from then on, every reader who brings their own experiences and viewpoints to the table contributes something to the understanding of the work. If they didn't, a text would be useless and dead.

THIS.

The argument - and one sees it from certain contemporary authors who are violently anti-fanfic of their work, even non-commercial fic; I'm fairly sure I've seen Robin Hobb advance it, for example - that characters somehow "belong" exclusively to their author, that the author has the monopoly on the inside of their heads and that only s/he has the right to imagine them - is utter baloney, and makes me wonder what on earth authors (or critics) think is going on when we read. If one can't bear the idea of one's beloved characters, or world, being changed and shaped by those who read it - then one shouldn't publish. Simple as that.

Interestingly, some of the best LoTR fic I have ever read is slashfic - partly perhaps because overtly homosexual relationships (as opposed to homosexual desires) are a bit more of a reach in Middle-earth than in contemporary society, and therefore the authors in question have worked really hard to convince the reader that said relationship is plausible. If you're interested [flutters LoTR-fic-pimping eyelashes] I've got a playlist of some of my favourite LotR slashfics over at Henneth-Annun...

And thank you for the compliment, by the way!

[kaffy_r]

I've read some of those anti-fanfic screeds and they make me sad, even as I reluctantly admit that if someone were to take characters I created and do something I wasn't comfortable with I might be, well, uncomfortable. But that's all I'd really have a right to be, frankly; I would have no moral or ethical right to rant on about authorial authority.

(And thanks for the links, you LotR fic promoter, you!)

[azalaisdep.livejournal.com]

I can totally understand the author feeling uncomfortable. I feel uncomfortable, in a fingernails-down-the-blackboardy way, when fanfic writers do things with canon characters that completely go against my conception of what that character would do! But as you say, feeling uncomfortable isn't the same as being entitled to say "You can't do that!"

(Years ago when I was younger and more naive I probably would have left protesting reviews; these days, I only would if I knew the author very well, or was very sure from things they'd said that they were happy to engage in debate on their characterisation or plot. Otherwise, I grits me teeth and hits me Back button...)

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

I finally, finally may have figured out what bugs me about this whole "fanfic" deal.
I think it's about how people relate to fiction and other works of art. "Some people say to an author, Take me somewhere I've never been before; others say Take me just where you did last time." is sort of close.
"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" really bugged me. (Also for having a bottomless rabbit hat, but that's another issue.)
I'm like, there it is. I really don't need your greasy little fingerprints. I gave up on Card's Alvin Maker (the last thing of his I tried to follow) when it became clear that he was echoing an online make-believe of people who were trying to pretend they were in the story. ik

ymmv, obviously, but do you think I'm on to anything here?

how the multiple disasters in Japan will affect the entire world

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

There's a wonderful anecdote that when Henry Kissinger asked Chou En Lai what he thought of the French Revolution, he answered, "It's too early to tell."

Re: how the multiple disasters in Japan will affect the entire world

[kaffy_r]

Ah, those wacky Chinese. Heh.

I think it's a measure of how serious things have become that Emperor Akihito actually made a public address about how worried he was over the nuclear situation.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

That was a really well written essay. Thanks for linking!

Still, I don't generally read LotR fanfic, and I doubt that's going to change. I think it's mostly because LotR is too close to my heart for me to be willing to deal with the inevitable percentage of mediocre fic. Also, I personally prefer deep friendship to slash for most of the relationships in the book, (perhaps because I imprinted on LotR when I was very young), though I'll defend everyone else's right to have more sexual interpretations without being considered freaky or wrong.

[kaffy_r]

I stayed away from LotR fic for much the same reason, and I probably won't read a lot of it, with the exception of that written by azalaisdep or people she suggests, simply because I trust her judgment (I definitey recommend her work). Perhaps what I wrote of as my awe of Tolkien's works maps out closely to your early imprinting. But, as the_arc5 reminded me in her essay, a world once born is no longer the property of its parent, and remembering that makes the difference for me.

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