The Hidden Authors: A Study and Survey of Fan Fiction Writers
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| Commentary | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Hidden Authors: A Study and Survey of Fan Fiction Writers |
| Commentator: | William Lewis Bolt |
| Date(s): | May 2004 |
| Medium: | online essay |
| Fandom: | Meta, fan fiction |
| External Links: | PDF online here |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Hidden Authors: A Study and Survey of Fan Fiction Writers is a thesis essay written by William Lewis Bolt as part of the University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Project.
"The Internet and the modem computer as shattered this interaction model as well. A fan could now watch the shows, read fan fiction, peruse fan art, and produce his or her own material without the slightest human contact. This is not to say that every fan is now a hermit with a computer. But a contemporary fan who is interested in the material does not have to participate in the shared social culture of the fandom at large. Most still do, however, and fan communication and sharing of materials is now more widespread than ever.A fan hierarchy is still in place, yet the process of "members" entering, leaving and advancing has been speeded up. In the abstract communication medium of the Internet, previous boundaries of age, class, and gender shifted to become more inclusive than in the fanzine era. Younger participants, males, and students are now breaking into a culture that was previously maintained by middle-class white females, more likely to be in their twenties rather than teens. In the medium the Internet, the mentors might be 14 year olds while the apprentices could be college students discovering fan fiction for the first time (Jenkins, 2003)."