Changes

}}

}}

   

   

'''Subtext'''  is the underlying motivation, feelings and emotions behind a character's actions and speech. In fandom, subtext is content in [[canon]] (or, sometimes, [[fanworks]]) that is meant to be understood by the audience without being explicitly stated.  

'''Subtext'''  is the underlying motivation, feelings and emotions behind a character's actions and speech in any creative work.

Subtext can be  inferred by the original creators of source text as a way to add interest. In a February 1992 interview, Bob Justman confirmed that the subtextual message in the  [[Star Trek: The Original Series]]  episode "[[The City on the Edge of Forever]]" (1966) concerning the 1960s' massive anti-war protest movement was intentional.<ref>H. Bruce Franklin, [https://web.archive.org/web/20161019112544/http://www.depauw.edu:80/sfs/backissues/62/franklin62art.htm Star Trek in the Vietnam War Era].</ref>

A common visual used to describe subtext is that of an iceberg. The part seen above the water is the text, bu the much larger part that is underwater is the subtext.  

Subtext can also be created due to the practical limitations of telling a story, such as carelessness, lack of continuity, lack of time, or a disinterest.  

Subtext, this "reading between the lines," is content in [[canon]] and [[fanworks]]) can be inferred by the original creators of a source text as a way to add interest.

==Subtext, Shipping, and Relationships==  

==Subtext, Shipping, and Relationships==  

In fan discussions, subtext most commonly refers to canon that is felt to imply a romantic [[Shipping|relationship]] or [[UST|unresolved sexual tension]]/attraction between two same-sex characters, or to hint at a character's sexual orientation. [

In fan discussions, subtext most commonly refers to canon that is felt to imply a romantic [[Shipping|relationship]] or [[UST|unresolved sexual tension]]/attraction between two same-sex characters, or to hint at a character's sexual orientation. [

{{Quotation|In slash the anxiety about what you are subconsciously communicating also exists. Although I am bisexual, I have been unable to complete any [[Femslash|f/f slash]] because I worry so much about the potential subtexts.  Since there is so little f/f in the majority of fandoms (aside from Xena), I tend to feel very self-conscious about the sort of lesbian relationships that I would be portraying, and fear that I will misrepresent lesbians.  I always ask myself what my f/f story might be saying about lesbians in general.  Am I feeding into stereotypes?  Am I being too negative?  Am I being too positive?  I don't want to over-romanticize lesbian relationships either. I have written lesbian characters into slash stories that are primarily m/m, but the idea of putting a story out there for other fans to read that focuses on an f/f relationship sets off a panic reaction in my brain.  I have several uncompleted f/f stories in various fandoms, and one completed story that is in a state of eternal revision because it never satisfies me.  

{{Quotation|In slash the anxiety about what you are subconsciously communicating also exists. Although I am bisexual, I have been unable to complete any [[Femslash|f/f slash]] because I worry so much about the potential subtexts.  Since there is so little f/f in the majority of fandoms (aside from Xena), I tend to feel very self-conscious about the sort of lesbian relationships that I would be portraying, and fear that I will misrepresent lesbians.  I always ask myself what my f/f story might be saying about lesbians in general.  Am I feeding into stereotypes?  Am I being too negative?  Am I being too positive?  I don't want to over-romanticize lesbian relationships either. I have written lesbian characters into slash stories that are primarily m/m, but the idea of putting a story out there for other fans to read that focuses on an f/f relationship sets off a panic reaction in my brain.  I have several uncompleted f/f stories in various fandoms, and one completed story that is in a state of eternal revision because it never satisfies me.  

Subtext is extremely subjective, and not all fans will agree on their validity or application to a particular relationship in a show or film.<ref>Shomeret, [http://www.trickster.org/symposium/symp27.htm The Subtext Anxiety]. ''The Fanfic Symposium'', November 21, 1999.</ref>}}

Subtext is extremely subjective, and not all fans will agree on their validity or application to a particular relationship in a show or film.<ref>Shomeret, [[The Subtext Anxiety]]. ''The Fanfic Symposium'', November 21, 1999.</ref>}}

    

    

==Subtext and Authorial Intent==

==Subtext and Authorial Intent==

In dramatics, subtext does not necessarily have to be deliberate on the part of the author. There have been many debates over whether certain subtext exists in canon whether or not the [[authorial intent|writer intended to put it there]]. K.M. Weiland argues that subtext ''must'' be intentional in order to be subtext in the first place. <ref>[http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/5-ingredients-need-story-subtext/# The Only 5 Ingredients You Need for Story Subtext], Sept. 12, 2016.</ref> But in ''The Fanfic Symposium'', fan author Shomeret argues that subtext is "a level of interpretation that is almost always unintended by the writer.  When you write a story, you intend to communicate certain things.  Being told about something you didn't intend may be alarming or infuriating." Shomeret continues:

In dramatics, subtext does not necessarily have to be deliberate on the part of the author. There have been many debates over whether certain subtext exists in canon whether or not the [[authorial intent|writer intended to put it there]]. K.M. Weiland argues that subtext ''must'' be intentional in order to be subtext in the first place. <ref>[http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/5-ingredients-need-story-subtext/# The Only 5 Ingredients You Need for Story Subtext], Sept. 12, 2016.</ref> But in ''The Fanfic Symposium'', fan author Shomeret argues that subtext is "a level of interpretation that is almost always unintended by the writer.  When you write a story, you intend to communicate certain things.  Being told about something you didn't intend may be alarming or infuriating." Shomeret continues:

 

 

 

==Fan Comments==

==Fan Comments==

===1995===

===1995===