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Fan-gemenskaper som litterära mötesplatser

Abstract

Fansites as literary venues

This article discusses fansites as literary venues. The point of view is descriptive; how fansites function, which activities are taking place and what participants find interesting. The discussion is based on material from five fansites, i.e. websites where readers share material posted by other readers and publish their own material, and participants engage in storytelling, reading and literary activities, albeit not in the same manner as students taking literature at universities. The digital technology offers possibilities to explore and expand massive text archives beyond geographical and economic limitations.

It has been implied that new media bring about new narrative alternatives and possibilities, but new media do not necessarily bring about new, narrative structures. However, both the material from the fansites as well as scholars specializing in narrative and media indicate that the existence of digital media give the readers other possibilities to develop a sense of transmedial thinking and reading. Therefore, this article also discusses narrative and media forms, the construction of meaning through fan fiction as well as fansites as interactive and dialogical rooms.