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Line 83: − − ==Xena Fandom== − In [[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]] fandom, "subtext" refers to the implication that [[Xena/Gabrielle|Xena and Gabrielle]] are meant to be understood as a lesbian couple.<ref>[http://www.xenite.org/faqs/subtext.html Xena - The Subtext FAQ for alt.tv.xena], Version 1.08, updated 1998. (Accessed 26 December 2008)</ref> A "[[subtexter]]" in Xena fandom is someone who is a fan of lesbian subtext. Here, references to subtext links, subtext fanfiction, subtext virtual seasons, etc. are usually referring to a lesbian interpretation of the source, like for example in CN Winters [http://www.cnscaldron.com/cn_winters_subtext_reports.html Xena Subtext Reports]. +
no edit summary
{{GlossaryTerm
{{GlossaryTerm
|synonyms=undertones
|synonyms=undertones
|seealso= [[Slashy]], [[Shippy]], [[Slash Goggles]], [[Hoyay!]], [[Slashnip]]
|seealso= [[Slashy]], [[Shippy]], [[Slash Goggles]], [[Hoyay!]], [[Slashnip]], [[Headcanon]], [[fanon]]
}}
}}
Subtext can also be created due to the practical limitations of telling a story, such as carelessness, lack of continuity, lack of budget, lack of time, or simply disinterest.
Subtext can also be created due to the practical limitations of telling a story, such as carelessness, lack of continuity, lack of budget, lack of time, or simply disinterest.
Fans looking for evidence of relationships or motivations can also use their translations of subtext to bolster their opinions and [[head canon]]. When a subtext is recognized, understood, and utilized by many fans, it can become [[fanon]].
Fans looking for evidence of relationships or motivations can also use their translations of subtext to bolster their opinions and [[headcanon]]. When a subtext is recognized, understood, and utilized by many fans, it can become [[fanon]].
It can be a way to send a message or evade censors. 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>
It can be a way to send a message or evade censors. 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>
Setting and descriptions can also contains subtext. An example of subtext in canon are the twin beds in Spock and Kirk's room in the episode, "City on the Edge of Forever." One is covered with equipment, and the other looks slept in, causing some fans to speculate on their sleeping situation.
Setting and descriptions can also contains subtext. An example of subtext in canon are the twin beds in Spock and Kirk's room in the episode, "City on the Edge of Forever." One is covered with equipment, and the other looks slept in, causing some fans to speculate on their sleeping situation.
==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." <ref> from [[The Subtext Anxiety]] by [[Shomeret]] (1999) </ref>}}
==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.
[Slash]] fans point out elements of art direction and photography as well as acting that they feel make the "obvious" point.
[Slash]] fans point out elements of art direction and photography as well as acting that they feel make the "obvious" point.
In film and television, especially in dramatic or suspense genres, just as in real life, two men or women looking intensely at each other or even touching does not mean they are sexually attracted to each other.<ref>Early ''Star Trek'' fans saw James Kirk and Cmdr. Spock's wordless exchanges as evidence that they were developing a kind of intuition or telepathy common to people who work closely together, rather than a sexual connection. Kirk's becoming telepathic was a subplot in [[Claire Gabriel]]'s [[The Thousandth Man (Star Trek: TOS story)|The Thousandth Man]] and a major plot point in later episodes of [[Jacqueline Lichtenberg]]'s [[Kraith]] series.</ref> However, [[TPTB|showrunners and producers]] who point this out, may be accused, rightly or wrongly, of [[Queer Baiting]].
In film and television, especially in dramatic or suspense genres, just as in real life, two men or women looking intensely at each other or even touching does not mean they are sexually attracted to each other.<ref>Early ''Star Trek'' fans saw James Kirk and Cmdr. Spock's wordless exchanges as evidence that they were developing a kind of intuition or telepathy common to people who work closely together, rather than a sexual connection. Kirk's becoming telepathic was a subplot in [[Claire Gabriel]]'s [[The Thousandth Man (Star Trek: TOS story)|The Thousandth Man]] and a major plot point in later episodes of [[Jacqueline Lichtenberg]]'s [[Kraith]] series.</ref> However, [[TPTB|showrunners and producers]] who point this out, may be accused, rightly or wrongly, of [[Queer Baiting]].
==Subtext and Pre-Slash==
Some stories may be perceived as pre-slash by some fans and gen by others, and fans may debate whether slashy subtext in a story is intentional or not, or if intent matters to the reader.
{{Quotation|The argument made by my counterparts was that the term 'pre-slash' means that slash is all about the sex; any story that doesn't have sex in it tends to get called 'pre-slash'. My own belief is this is a limited definition, and that we're not so in agreement on what slash is that that sort of broad generalization can be made. To me, that it's the term used by the slash community to identify stories where the subtext never makes it to the textual level, and that making the subtext into text is actually a main focus of what slash is about. If the tension is left as subtext, then it's '[[smarm]]' or 'slashy [[gen]]' or -- the term preferred within when talking to other members of that community -- 'pre-slash.'|source=[[wickedwords]]<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030418162124/http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=wickedwords&itemid=109913 pre-slash], wickedwords (March 3, 2003)</ref>}}
==Subtext and Femslash==
{{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, [[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==
===Xena Fandom===
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 [[Xena: Warrior Princess|Xena]] fandom, "subtext" refers to the implication that [[Xena/Gabrielle|Xena and Gabrielle]] are meant to be understood as a lesbian couple.<ref>[http://www.xenite.org/faqs/subtext.html Xena - The Subtext FAQ for alt.tv.xena], Version 1.08, updated 1998. (Accessed 26 December 2008)</ref>
A "[[subtexter]]" in Xena fandom is someone who is a fan of lesbian subtext. Here, references to subtext links, subtext fanfiction, subtext virtual seasons, etc. are usually referring to a lesbian interpretation of the source, like for example in CN Winters [http://www.cnscaldron.com/cn_winters_subtext_reports.html Xena Subtext Reports].
Xena fandom is dominated by [[Femslash|f/f]] fanfiction, due to the [[canon]]'s focus on the close friendship between Xena and [[Gabrielle]]. At times, the show deliberately brought the queer subtext as close to text as it could get<ref>Valerie Foster, [http://www.whoosh.org/issue37/foster1.html Yes Lucy, There Is Still a Subtext on Xena]. Posted October, 1999. (Accessed 30 November 2008.)</ref> without crossing the line; at other times, the show seemed merely to be [[Queerbaiting|titillating the viewers with faux-sapphic scenes]]. Either way, the [[Xena/Gabrielle]] relationship was meaningful to a lot of people because it was the closest to showing a [[sapphic]] relationship as an epic romance that most [[X/G]] fans had ever seen on TV at the time of its original airing. (Arguably, this remains true today. While the representation of sapphics on television has improved, female action heroes with female friends, female sidekicks, and woman-centered plotlines remain rare.)
See more at [[Xena/Gabrielle#Subtext or Text?|Subtext or Text?]].
==Fan Comments==
==Fan Comments==
{{Quotation|
{{Quotation|
"Subtext " is what a work of art may imply or indicate without stating outright. It can be deliberate or inadvertent, and can be interpreted subjectively by the art's reader/viewer/listener. When [[Al Calavicci|Al]] screws up his face into an expression of misery at learning that [[Sam Beckett|Sam]] doesn't remember him, possible subtexts are: "Oh shit, the experiment's gone wrong!" "Does this mean he doesn't remember fucking me under the Accelerator night before last?" or "My hangover is even worse than I said." When [[Bodie]] and [[Ray Doyle|Doyle]] have a different set of rooms every time they are shown at home, the subtext can be, "CI5 agents have to move often for security reasons," or "These characters are so unstable that they can't keep the same apartment for long." <ref> comments about [[Quantum Leap]] and [[The Professionals]], from [[Strange Bedfellows (APA)]] #8 (February 1995) </ref>}}
"Subtext " is what a work of art may imply or indicate without stating outright. It can be deliberate or inadvertent, and can be interpreted subjectively by the art's reader/viewer/listener. When [[Al Calavicci|Al]] screws up his face into an expression of misery at learning that [[Sam Beckett|Sam]] doesn't remember him, possible subtexts are: "Oh shit, the experiment's gone wrong!" "Does this mean he doesn't remember fucking me under the Accelerator night before last?" or "My hangover is even worse than I said." When [[Bodie]] and [[Ray Doyle|Doyle]] have a different set of rooms every time they are shown at home, the subtext can be, "CI5 agents have to move often for security reasons," or "These characters are so unstable that they can't keep the same apartment for long." <ref> comments about [[Quantum Leap]] and [[The Professionals]], from [[Strange Bedfellows (APA)]] #8 (February 1995) </ref>}}
===1998===
{{Quotation|
Thinking about the more recent slash fandoms vs. the older fandoms brought me to this question:
Is now a better time to be a slash fan than the mid-seventies? The shows are more obvious about their homosocial/homoerotic overtones, the actors are (for the most part) more open to it and less concerned, [[Queerbaiting|some jokes/scenarios even seemed aimed at the slash fan]]. BUT: was it a different feeling when the slash was ferreted out and created wholly by the fandom, without any real help from what was on the screen? I mean, tell me please if Kirk and Spock ever looked at one another the way [[Mulder]] and [[Krycek]] do -- or is that preferable?
... I'm curious as to how slash and slash fandom has changed as the social climate (and therefore the entertainment) became a) more aware of homosexuality, b) more tolerant of homosexuality, and c) more likely to fan the flames (no pun intended)
: I can't answer that comparatively since I don't know how [[Mulder]] and [[Krycek]] look at one another, but [[James Kirk (TOS)|TOS Kirk]] and [[Spock (TOS)|Spock]] do in fact act in ways onscreen that would be considered suspect by today's more knowing audiences. Some of it involves looking at one another, but a large part of it involves body contact which is both (mostly) unnecessary and prolonged past the point of propriety. Examples episodes in which this is most blatant are: "The Changeling" - right after Spock's meld with Nomad, "Shore Leave" - while they're being strafed by an antique fighter plane, and "And the Children Shall Lead" - [[the infamous turbolift scene]]. Most of this was accidental, due to the smaller action field in the cameras of the 60's which forced principals in a scene to stand much closer than normal in order to remain in frame. However, the censors of the time were more concerned with catching the improprieties this caused between male-female only - it being a more naive time as far as homosexuality was concerned - so they weren't watching for it between male leads.
: Personally, I wish [[William Shatner|WS]] and [[Leonard Nimoy|LN]] [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|hadn't been made aware]]. [[Fan Service|They've been good sports and even try to accommodate us by 'playing to the gallery' on occasion]], but now it's contrived and campy. Before, in TOS, we would get scenes like the ones above in which you see genuine affection between them and sometimes bantering dialog which could be interpreted as flirting because of the accompanying body language and the fact that they were largely unaware of the effect they were creating. Now, we get "[[Please Captain, not in front of the Klingons]]" (who couldn't have cared less if they hugged each other like they did at the end of "[[Amok Time]]", IMO), which makes Spock sound like [[Felix Unger]] of [[the Odd Couple]], for crying out loud! In short, I think it was more fun then than now because half the fun is the "are they or aren't they" speculation and the subsequent searches for clues in the episodes. Having it handed to you on a silver platter - well what fun is *that*?
:: I like more blatant [[homoerotic subtext]] in shows. Of course, I'm coming from the perspective of a [[Vidder (glossary term)|vidder]] as well as a reader/writer, and the lingering glances make for better [[vids]], IMO. <g> I suppose I sometimes feel I have to justify slash -- even to people who are sympathetic, like my husband -- and so the obvious looks, the [[Mulder/Krycek|M/K]] kiss, [[Jim Ellison|Jim]] distraught over [[Blair Sandburg|Blair's]] "drowning", etc., keep me from feeling delusional. <g>
::I don't know how much of it has to do with the timeframe, though, and how much has to do with the actual characters -- [[Bodie]] and [[Ray Doyle|Doyle]] regularly exchange meaningful glances and from what I hear, the same could be said for [[Starsky/Hutch]], though I'm not particularly familiar with the fandom.
::I guess I'm just more drawn to fandoms where the subtext is more visible: [[Due South]], [[X-Files]], [[Pros]], [[Sentinel]], [[Hercules/Xena]]. [[Star Trek: TOS|TOS]] has never particularly interested me, though I find both Kirk and Spock to be attractive.
::: Um, yeah, you could say that. Actually, I am inclined to say that [[Crockett/Castillo]] exchange meaningful glances; Starsky/Hutch exchanged meaningful gropes.<ref> discussion at [[Virgule-L]], quoted anonymously, the last quote is by [[Michelle Christian]], quoted with permossion (16 Oct 1998) </ref>}}
===2008===
===2008===
{{Quotation |For my part, I never have been able to "slash for slash's sake." I don't and can't "[[Slash goggles|see slashy]] [[subtext]]" everywhere I look. Evidence of emotional and/or physical intimacy (same gender or opposite) demonstrates only that characters are emotionally and/or physically intimate. Emotional/physical intimacy exists between people who are friends and among family members and is, by itself, insufficient to suggest, much less prove, that there is or should be sexual relationship.
{{Quotation |For my part, I never have been able to "slash for slash's sake." I don't and can't "[[Slash goggles|see slashy]] [[subtext]]" everywhere I look. Evidence of emotional and/or physical intimacy (same gender or opposite) demonstrates only that characters are emotionally and/or physically intimate. Emotional/physical intimacy exists between people who are friends and among family members and is, by itself, insufficient to suggest, much less prove, that there is or should be sexual relationship.
It's the Vulcan in me--I need to see a logical extrapolation from the media source product to the suggested extra-textual relationship (slash or het). Connect all the dots for me--explain what is in canon (the characterizations, backgrounds, history, specific relationships, physical setting, time period, larger culture and worldview, etc.) that makes it possible (or even likely) and also rationally explain away whatever there is in [[canon]] that mitigates against it. <ref> comment from [[klangley56]] in [http://goodnightsong.livejournal.com/235854.html the subject of slash], dated June 1, 2008, accessed Feb. 11, 2011; [https://archive.ph/AA27 archive link]. </ref>}}
It's the Vulcan in me--I need to see a logical extrapolation from the media source product to the suggested extra-textual relationship (slash or het). Connect all the dots for me--explain what is in canon (the characterizations, backgrounds, history, specific relationships, physical setting, time period, larger culture and worldview, etc.) that makes it possible (or even likely) and also rationally explain away whatever there is in [[canon]] that mitigates against it. <ref> comment from [[klangley56]] in [http://goodnightsong.livejournal.com/235854.html the subject of slash], dated June 1, 2008, accessed Feb. 11, 2011; [https://archive.ph/AA27 archive link]. </ref>}}
==Meta==
==Meta==
* [[The Subtext Anxiety]] by [[Shomeret]] (1999)
* [[The Subtext Anxiety]] by [[Shomeret]] (1999)
* [[Subtext and Slash: Having Your Cake and Eating it Too]] by Julia Houston (1999)
* [[Why Subtext is Better than Text]] by [[Janis C.]] (2004)
* [[Why Subtext is Better than Text]] by [[Janis C.]] (2004)