'Slash' Fiction - In Search of a Definition
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Slash' Fiction - In Search of a Definition |
| Creator: | several fans |
| Date(s): | June 2005 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Sime~Gen |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
'Slash' Fiction - In Search of a Definition is a fan discussion compiled by Kaíres Tévesu from [simegen-L] (June 2005)
The discussion's focus was the definition of slash, and some Sime~Gen fans puzzlement that the story A Companion in Zeor #21 had been given a slash Fan Q Award due to a story in it called A Companion's Duty.
The discussion: Rimon Farris Memorial Library - Articles - Slash Fiction, Archived version
For some context, see Timeline of Slash Meta.
The Discussion
Jean Lorrah: I guess the awards people decided it [CZ#21] was a slash zine because it had a slash story in it. I kind of figured that would happen. It caused considerable confusion. There is some disagreement on this in fandom, but in general, one slash story does make the whole zine slash. (The "contagion" theory of categorization. Kinda like those southern states that considered people black if they had even 1% African-American ancestry.) No, it's not really contagion theory--there are simply different rules for slash than for gen stories, so they should not be judged against one another. And some fans would rather not read slash, or have it in the house, which is their right--hence zines must be labeled. The neat thing about having our zines on the web, though, is that someone who wants to read the great preponderance of gen S~G stories can simply not read the single slash story, whereas a zine buyer has to forego the rest of the stories in a zine with one slash story if she doesn't want a slash story in the house.
[Leigh]:No, it's not really contagion theory--there are simply different rules for slash than for gen stories, so they should not be judged against one another.
I think it's arguable. MediaWest lumps hetsmut with gen, no matter how sexually explicit or extreme it is. Others may lump in all adult stuff together, and gen is strictly G or PG rated.
And not everyone thinks that one slash story makes the whole zine slash. I remember some of the old Trek classic "genzines" had the occasional slash story (though non-explicit). Some editors believed that "gen" meant "general," as in "anything goes," not "suitable for general audiences."
I suspect there's also some variation by fandom. I think Pros fans routinely mix slash and gen, and it's not a big deal. I remember when one Pros editor did a Blake's 7 zine. She didn't think to tell her contributors that she was accepting any B7 stories, including explicit slash. A couple of them were outraged when they saw the zine, even ripping the offending stories out, but she honestly didn't see the problem, because her Pros tribbers never cared.
Jean Lorrah: "A Companion's Duty" lies in a gray area between gay literature and slash. Let me explain:"Slash" is a fannish term derived from the "/," in America called a "slash mark," placed between the names of characters who are "slashed" (portrayed in homoerotic relationships). In traditional slash fan fiction, characters who are not gay in the original universe (Kirk and Spock, Harry and Draco, Clark and Lex) are portrayed as gay in the fiction. A Hugh/Klyd story would be, without question, Sime~Gen slash, as in canon the characters are not gay. Technically, a story with all original gay characters, using none of the established characters from any canon, is not slash; it is gay erotica.
Gay literature, of course, is about characters who are gay. A Will/Jack or Brian/Justin story is not slash because the characters are gay in canon--such stories would be simply erotic fanfic, like my Sarek/Amanda stories. No change is made from canon in the characters' apparent sexual orientation.
Fan writers frequently take a character portrayed as straight in canon, and introduce their own original gay character to interact with the canon character. Such stories are still considered slash because the apparent sexual orientation of one of the established characters is changed.
Finally, we come to the situation in "A Companion's Duty." At first glance, as the two main characters are original, and have never appeared in canon, it seems to be a gay fan story, but not slash because the apparent sexual orientation of an established character is not changed. The problem with this definition is that one of the characters is a channel, and by definition, in canon there are no gay channels. So, even though the character is original, the story COULD be called slash because it changes the sexual orientation of a channel.
Hence, gray area. Still, considering that the story is alternate universe, and in that alternate universe there obviously ARE gay channels, it's probably best to call the story gay literature rather than slash.
However, the story has one thing very much in common with the best slash literature that is frequently missing from gay erotica (or straight erotica, for that matter): it is intimate adventure through and through. The story is about the relationship, not the sex. While many slash fandoms include PWP (Plot? What plot?) stories that are nothing but sex scenes, you generally don't see such vignettes occurring until a number of longer relationship-development stories have already come out in that fandom, so readers have the feeling that there is already a relationship going on.
Clearly, "A Companion's Duty" was labeled slash in the Fan Q's because it is a long intimate adventure between two male characters. Thus it provides readers with the kind of satisfaction they are accustomed to deriving from slash.
Jacqueline Lichtenberg: A Companion's Duty is easily good enough to generate a fandom of its own with derivative stories that eventually might come to be "slashed" -- which would by this definition require them to be turned straight. ????