Fanfiction as literature

Аннотация

Background. Modern world provides the ability for almost anyone to create. It can be a story that uses characters that we already know and love and would like to read more about, but the author is not going to continue it. Nevertheless, people, who are really passionate about the characters, like to fantasize about the continuation of the plot or what could have happened instead and they write their own interpretation. These stories are known as fanfiction and the people that are interested are fans, who usually join fandoms.

History of these stories starts with derivative works, which have been known since the Greek period. Fanfiction that we know today became more common with the boom of pop culture, the Internet makes it much easier to create and find readers. Fanfiction is a hobby for many young people; even adults like to participate in this online culture.

Aim. The study aims to explain how fanfiction can be considered as literature, how it can help to learn languages and express feelings.

Methods. The authors used literature review on the topic, analysis, comparison and conduction of a poll. The answers, which the surveyed gave, showed that they all read fanfiction at some point of their lives. More than 90% of the respondents voted that they wanted to read more because of fanfiction. They also stated that fanfiction helped to develop imagination; it was a good opportunity to increase vocabulary. It was also noted that stories gave inspiration, because they are written by people who are not famous authors.

Results. The study says that fanfiction has the right to be considered as actual literature. Not every published text on the Internet has the need to be viewed as literature, but some works should have this right. Creative storytelling and character development shows passion of writers. Fanfiction is not limiting; websites do not expect writers to have experience or any connections. Readers give criticism, participate in discussions and make friends who have the same interests. Moreover, fanfiction can play a significant role in language learning. It provides a useful and fun way to practice vocabulary and grammar and improve writing skills. Besides, writing fanfiction can lead to getting an actual career due to the fact that publishing houses see it now as an opportunity and a business. Some works even get film adaptations.

Conclusions:

1) Fanfiction has a great potential; it should be considered as literature and taken seriously.

2) Writing and reading fanfiction can make language learning more interesting and it can help to increase vocabulary.

3) Fanfiction is a great opportunity to express feelings and make friends, who can understand the passion.

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