I didn't realize that the Draco Trilogy was so long! I can't even fully comprehend reading a fanfic that long, let alone the idea of someone's life being devoted to writing it (or is it the other way around?).
The concept of fanfic itself is strange, because its motivation, at least in my opinion, it to fill some void that fans feel is left untouched by the author, to create an alternate universe where the world fans have fallen in love with can be expanded and endure indefinitely. So long as there is fanfic, the characters never have to stay static--there can always be another adventure.
I can't decide whether HP fans have taken that too far, with things like the Draco Trilogy. It is a story that was written before the author herself had revealed what happened to her characters; therefore, the fanficcers were building stories from sketches, not fully realized characters. I feel that after Book 7, a lot of fanfic like The Draco Trilogy can no longer claim to be about the same characters. It's not just about the plot, but the characters authors are using. They've diverged into two different planes, and I don't think that a fan who disregards Book 7 can really say that they've fallen in love with J.K. Rowling's characters so much as the idea of Hogwarts and Co.
That being said, I'm still not entirely sure that it's really wrong, either. I had a discussion with Alyssa about how we didn't like the idea of a Ron/Hermione relationship, because it seemed so out of character for each of them. But if J.K. Rowling says its true, then doesn't it automatically make it in-character? Maybe that's where fanfic comes it--fans can actively protest something they see as wrong in their understanding of a character. And when it gets to the point where fans are appropriating a character as their own, then I think it is fair game. I mean, look at the Batman character (yes, I had to bring Christian Bale into this). The Batman of the new Batman movies is not the Batman of the Val Kilmer generation, nor does he bear resemblance to the original Batman, he of the bright yellow utility belt and gray spandex. The character has evolved through several comic book authors to one who is completely different, but still accepted by fans as canon. Characters like Batman and Nancy Drew (Carolyn Keene, the "author," was a pseudonym for many different writers) have become such cultural institutions that they are now open for reinvention by anyone. Maybe the same has happened with Harry Potter, with the complication that the original author is still alive and vocal about her own vision of what REALLY happens. I'm really curious to see what will happen to the franchise in the future...
Monday, August 06, 2007
On Fanfic
So, after reading HP 7, I encountered a fan who said something like "let's pretend this never happened and take the Draco Trilogy as the last book." Karen helped me find the Draco Trilogy, and I am now about 800 pages through what may be a 2000 page saga in the Harry Potter universe. I say "may be a 2000 page saga" because I have't opened the third pdf file, and the first two are about 1100 pages together. It's long, let's just say that.
Anyway, reading a novel that uses our beloved characters but is not by JK Rowling is a bit of an odd experience. It's comforting to be back with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and to see the Burrow and Hogwarts, etc., again, but it's clearly not the same. This particular story is on the right scale as a Rowling story, especially in the later years, but it introduces concepts that I don't find compatible with the world we've come to know. Demons? Hell? Unlike, say, the Golden Compass books (Karen...write your blog post about it!), the HP world is distinctly a-religious. There just isn't a mention of God or Hell or anything theological. I liked that. Introducing Hell and demons introduces a Judeo-Christian conception of the universe, and it was refreshing to read a children's book in which good and bad were drawn resolutely, but not eternally. Voldemort could be good--it's a choice. I could be okay with the presence of this new theological component, but there's something about the voices that doesn't work for me. This story is self-consciously clever, another trait Rowling would never demonstrate. This is something else I liked abou the books--they took themselves seriously, and the humor was neither casual nor intentional. That is, I never got the sense that an act or quote was intended solely to produce laughter. It was always part of the characters, or of the story. Back to the voices; I can't see the Harry or Hermione I've come to know in this story, which makes me wonder if the Harry and Hermione, etc., are the Harry and Hermione *I* know, or the Harry and Hermione everyone knows. How much are these books personal? How much are the characters personal? I know people understand the romances in the JK Rowling books better than I do, and someone might have an undying appreciation for Professor Sprout, but to what degree can characters change for individual readers?
I guess my real questions here are about reader response theory. Woot Humanities honors seminar. Or even Don Quixote like. What happens to characters when the real author puts down her pen? Are they mine? Are they still hers? Can characters live after the books? I think these questions are ones Karen brought up a few weeks ago, but they're still worth asking again. I just reread HP 3. These characters are not the same characters that are in HP 7, but the evolution is clear. Is HP 7 a better book than the Draco Trilogy, for me, because the evolution JK Rowling has seen them through works better, or is it because characters are really tied to the author? A lot of the series I read as a kid had different authors (eg, Sweet Valley twins, Nancy Drew (I think)). I don't remember the characters changing from book to book, but they were also probably flatter characters. Do any of you write fiction? Do you think you can adopt characters from another world and make them your own?
And, in other news, I'm having a really hard time getting into books this summer (besides HP). Any suggestions?
Anyway, reading a novel that uses our beloved characters but is not by JK Rowling is a bit of an odd experience. It's comforting to be back with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and to see the Burrow and Hogwarts, etc., again, but it's clearly not the same. This particular story is on the right scale as a Rowling story, especially in the later years, but it introduces concepts that I don't find compatible with the world we've come to know. Demons? Hell? Unlike, say, the Golden Compass books (Karen...write your blog post about it!), the HP world is distinctly a-religious. There just isn't a mention of God or Hell or anything theological. I liked that. Introducing Hell and demons introduces a Judeo-Christian conception of the universe, and it was refreshing to read a children's book in which good and bad were drawn resolutely, but not eternally. Voldemort could be good--it's a choice. I could be okay with the presence of this new theological component, but there's something about the voices that doesn't work for me. This story is self-consciously clever, another trait Rowling would never demonstrate. This is something else I liked abou the books--they took themselves seriously, and the humor was neither casual nor intentional. That is, I never got the sense that an act or quote was intended solely to produce laughter. It was always part of the characters, or of the story. Back to the voices; I can't see the Harry or Hermione I've come to know in this story, which makes me wonder if the Harry and Hermione, etc., are the Harry and Hermione *I* know, or the Harry and Hermione everyone knows. How much are these books personal? How much are the characters personal? I know people understand the romances in the JK Rowling books better than I do, and someone might have an undying appreciation for Professor Sprout, but to what degree can characters change for individual readers?
I guess my real questions here are about reader response theory. Woot Humanities honors seminar. Or even Don Quixote like. What happens to characters when the real author puts down her pen? Are they mine? Are they still hers? Can characters live after the books? I think these questions are ones Karen brought up a few weeks ago, but they're still worth asking again. I just reread HP 3. These characters are not the same characters that are in HP 7, but the evolution is clear. Is HP 7 a better book than the Draco Trilogy, for me, because the evolution JK Rowling has seen them through works better, or is it because characters are really tied to the author? A lot of the series I read as a kid had different authors (eg, Sweet Valley twins, Nancy Drew (I think)). I don't remember the characters changing from book to book, but they were also probably flatter characters. Do any of you write fiction? Do you think you can adopt characters from another world and make them your own?
And, in other news, I'm having a really hard time getting into books this summer (besides HP). Any suggestions?
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