Filing The Serial Numbers Off: The Role Of The Author In Fanfiction Published As Original FictionFanfiction Published As Original Fiction

Degree
Master of Arts
University
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Publication year
2024
Comment

Here's the abstract:

With the increase of authors altering and publishing fanfiction as original works of fiction, the practices and attitudes of fan communities cross over into the realm of traditional fiction. Throughout its history, fandom is a community built on the shared love of a piece of media or celebrity. The importance of community appears in fanfiction through Author’s Notes and comments sections; both of which traditionally published novels generally lack. When authors choose to make the transition to traditional publication which provides legitimacy that fanfiction lacks, they must remove most of their own identity and the fan-community that they originally relied on. The study of five popular examples of this practice of “filing the serial numbers off” illustrates different ways authors and publishers choose to acknowledge the novels’ fanfiction origins.

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The "five popular examples" are: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James; Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren; After by Anna Todd; The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood; The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon.